The Art of Sacrifice
by rockadaisy
Summary: Chloe makes a decision, then has to deal with the consequences. CHLEX.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Art of Sacrifice  
Author: rockadaisy  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Just borrowing it for a bit.

Summary: Chloe makes a decision and has to deal with the consequences. Kind of up and down angst, but there's a greater purpose, I promise. Method to the madness.

CHAPTER 1

Lex pushed his glass of scotch around the dark wooden desk abstractly as the door to his study opened. A blond head peeked through the gap between the door and the wall, the attached body allowing only a moment of hesitation before storming into the office like a thundercloud.

"Nice of you to drop in, Ms. Sullivan."

"For God's sake, Lex, you've known me for five years now, you think you could call me by my first name?"

"So much for courtesy."

"Your methods of intimidation don't work on me, Lex, I've had the pleasure of experiencing them from the real thing." Her eyes scanned over the man at the desk, the impeccable black suit and crisp linen shirt, the perfectly ironed pants and the shoes that cost more that a year's tuition at Met U. "He'd be awfully proud of you, you know. Manipulating others for your own profit, eliminating that pesky interference…what is it called again, oh yes, a conscience?"

The topic of Lionel Luthor did not appeal to Lex at all. His father had always held a position of strength in his life; every year presented another challenge, another battle for control. Although Lionel had miraculously recovered with his bout of insanity after the second meteor shower, the image remained untouched in Lex's mind- a grown man locked behind glass walls, wrapped up in buckles and cloth like an infant, reduced to childlike nothingness. As much as Lex had dreamed of the day his father would no longer be a threat to his own life and desires, he had found himself inexplicably disappointed. Instead, as always, he focused on the issue at hand. "As much as I enjoy your friendly banter, Chloe…" he over enunciated her name, spitting out the consonants. "I asked you to come here for a different reason."

"The same reason you've been following me around, harassing me ever since the meteor shower?" Chloe shook her head in frustration. "I can't answer your questions, I don't understand what happened myself. Besides, I'm just as interested in finding some understanding on the mystery that is Smallville as you are, only I don't do it in an obnoxious, power-hungry, creepy stalker way."

Lex shut his eyes tightly and pressed his hands together, breathing deeply. "Chloe you don't understand."

"I understand that you have been doing everything in your power to spy on Clark, a supposed friend of yours, and if that's how you treat your friends, I'm not interested in becoming one of them."

Lex stood up abruptly, slamming his fist against his desk. Chloe jumped at the sudden violence and quickly shut her mouth. "You don't understand, Chloe, if you…." His shouting trailed off into silence. He eyed Chloe carefully, warily. "Just…follow me." He walked out of the room, into the hallway. Chloe looked around the empty office, sighed loudly and stomped out of the office after Lex.

"This is…definitely weird." Chloe murmured, her hands tracing the outline of the crushed car in the air, afraid to touch such a strange memento.

"I saved it to remind me of how quickly life can change its path. I should have died that afternoon I crashed through the bridge. I, by all means of nature, should have drowned in that lake. But I didn't." Lex couldn't explain the sudden, confidence-inspiring nature of Chloe Sullivan, but felt a strange urgency to explain this to her rise up in his throat. He forced himself silen, smiling wryly as she examined the car thoroughly, ever the investigative reporter.

Chloe stared at the hood of the car, ripped open all the way to the front seat. A string of memories connected that car to every truck Clark had flipped, to the car she had seen Clark stop with her own eyes the night Alicia set out to expose Clark's secret. His strength never ceased to amaze her, to astound her.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Lex. You've got a wrecked car and a lot of expensive computers telling you what should have happened, and yet here you are, quite clearly alive. Maybe you should stop worrying about alternate possibilities and accept a glitch in the forces of nature."

Lex began to pace around the room anxiously. "Chloe, people like you and me, we don't 'accept glitches'. We set out to understand them and explain them."

Chloe stiffened at the thought of a shared trait with the notorious Lex Luthor, and yet couldn't help but feel somewhat flattered. "I don't know what makes you think this has anything to do with Clark, and I don't know what it is you've been doing with Lana, but you should know, if we're so alike, not to play with fire. I know more than you think, Lex, about your business wheeling and dealing- mass amounts of cash 'disappearing' into strange accounts, chemical testing without proper registration, you name it, I've got it. So just leave me and my friends alone, Richie Rich, and I'll be on my way."

She turned on her heels and marched righteously to the door, praying to God he wouldn't call her on her bluffed bravado.

"Stop." He demanded. She didn't. "Please. Chloe, just…please." She stood still, her hand on the doorframe. The tone of his voice caught her offguard, leaving her frozen in her tracks. "This isn't even why I called you..." he laughed uncomfortably, before looking back to Chloe with a renewed fire in his eyes. "Isn't it human to question existence, fate and destiny? To examine the few truly amazing people that exist on this planet? People so spectacular, they verge on inhuman?"

"Are you trying to tell me you think Clark isn't human?" Chloe sputtered nervously. "I think all that meteor rock is going to your head. Clark is just a normal, every-day, average guy with a penchant for plaid."

"Chloe, you of all people should know how…miraculous Clark can be. Always in the right place at the right time, overtly honest and-

"Just give him a cape and he's a superhero." Chloe taunted sarcastically. She tapped her foot impatiently. "What is it you want from me, Lex? As surprising as it may sound, I've got better things to do than talk auto shop with you in your freaky little museum."

Lex walked over to Chloe, leaning into her closely with a slight leer in the tone of his voice. Some energy about him darkened visibly, and Chloe felt her strength begin to waver. "I respect Clark and Lana, and your whole little crew, but I still get the strange feeling that something is being kept from me, something big. I don't appreciate being lied to, Chloe."

"I- I can't help you." Chloe stood tall and allowed herself to look directly into Lex Luthor's eyes, refusing to back down or shy away from the closeness of his body. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

Lex stared her down for a minute more, making it impossible for Chloe to break eye contact. "Then I guess there's nothing left to discuss."

"No. There's isn't. Except why you called me here in the first place. Was it just to harass me about things I don't know?" She took a breath in and pulled at the last traces of gentility she could find within herself.

"You…you said you had something to tell me. On the phone. So…what is it, Lex?"

Lex turned his back to her and returned his focus to the smashed car, letting his eyes linger on the scratched paint and torn metal that he knew like the back of his hand. His face was unreadable and this frustrated Chloe to no end. "I heard your father has been ill."

Chloe felt as though cold water had been poured on her, rushing from the top of her head down her spine. She gritted her teeth as she fought for control. "That is none of your business, Mr. Luthor, though I appreciate the concern."

"Chloe, I might know something that can help. My team of scientists has been working with treatments for the liver failure due to extreme exposure to meteor rocks for some time now, and I just wanted you to know that with some observation, I could possibly-"

All pretention of kindness and manners disappeared. Chloe's eyes burned furiously as she ran at Lex and shoved him hard. "How dare you! Your father sticks him in a metal box of a lab full of meteor rocks for years but now that you have a real live lab rat in the deal, a living witness and the perfect example of the effects of the meteor shower, you say you 'might know something' to help? Fuck you!"

Lex staggered under the weight of her push, but pulled himself up quickly. He understood grief quite well. "Loss is a part of life, Chloe," he said calmly. "Does Clark know?"

"I'm leaving." Chloe turned on her heels and exited, purposefully ignoring the gray eyes that followed her out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The fact of the matter was that she hadn't told Clark. She hadn't told anyone. What had started out like a simple flu-like virus had now gotten her father checked into the hospital with random fits of delirium, an extraordinarily high fever and a yellowish-green tint to his skin that just screamed "meteor freak". Chloe left Metropolis and relocated herself back to Smallville, figuring that a long drive to work was worth the opportunity to sleep at the hospital with her dad as often as she could. Unfortunately she couldn't stay there forever, and on the occasion that she had to go home, she couldn't stand the quiet. Never having been a quiet person, she felt stifled and scared by the eerie silence of the empty house. These were her demons, her own private battle, and her only real family close to being lost forever. Needless to say, this was none of Lex Luthor's business.

She drove around aimlessly, wandering through the town she had called her home for five years. She passed the Talon, the high school and Pete's old house. Long drives around Smallville had become Chloe's salvation, keeping her away from the house when the metallic smell of hospital sterilizer became too much for her. She drove for hours, stopping only for gasoline or coffee- sometimes both. Today, though, she found herself drawn to the Kent's farm. Like a magnetic force, her car pulled itself into the dusty driveway. As soon as she opened the car door, Chloe was hit from all angles by the savory scent of food in the wind. Checking her watch, she confirmed that it was indeed time for dinner, and as if on cue, her stomach growled. Chloe knew she was far from being the next Betty Crocker, and T.V. dinners and hospital cafeteria food had so far been strictly unappealing (as well as being mostly inedible). She was starving.

Knocking on the door, Chloe looked around awkwardly. When the door opened, Martha Kent's face appeared on the opposite side of the screen.

"Chloe!" Martha smiled kindly.

'I know you're probably busy eating dinner, I can leave if I'm interrupting anything…"

"No, no. Come on in." Martha opened the screen door and gestured for Chloe to enter. "Clark! Chloe's here."

Clark rose from the table to meet Chloe halfway across the room. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Chloe laughed uncomfortably. "Relax. No crime fighting tonight." Clark looked confused. "What, your best friend can't stop by just to say hello?"

Clark face melted into a friendly grin. "Of course you can. It's just a shock to not have you come rushing in with a hard breaking news piece."

Martha closed the door behind Chloe and followed her back into the kitchen. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

"Oh no, I couldn't impose…" Chloe tried not to stare at the food on the table, which smelled more amazing by the second.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I…" She glanced back to the table again. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind?"

Jonathan Kent got up from his seat to move an extra chair to the table. "Of course not," he said with a smile. "You're practically family around here anyway."

Chloe flushed pink at the compliment. "Thanks, Mr. Kent."

"So what has your father been up to?" Martha asked, setting a plate and utensils down in front of Chloe.

"He's been really busy. Independent work." Chloe answered sharply.

"Good for him" Jonathan commented, seating himself back down and reaching for a biscuit from the middle of the table. "He's better off. A nice guy like your father shouldn't have been working for a man like Lionel Luthor in the first place."

"A job's a job…" Chloe thought, remembering the days after her father had been fired from LuthorCorp, lost in his own depression. She held her tongue.

After dinner, Chloe and Clark retreated to the barn where they sat on the couch and watched television until they both fell asleep. As she woke up, Chloe rubbed the sleep-induced blurriness out of her eyes and took in her surroundings. Darkness. Television buzzing quietly. Clark sitting next to her, slumped over the arm of the couch in his sleep. As if sensing that she was awake and sitting upright, he sighed and shifted his body to sprawl out farther onto the cushions, his legs now pressing against Chloe's arm. Her arm felt electrified, as if every nerve in her body had been relocated into that one arm, that one bit of skin touching Clark.

Despite feeling a little voyeuristic, she couldn't help but stare at the face she had known since the eighth grade. Her best friend. Her first kiss. Her own personal superhero. Tousled dark hair fell against his forehead and his tan skin seemed to glow in the dim light. She tried to memorize every detail, from the dark eyelashes to the flushed cheeks and lips half-parted in a light snore. Finally tearing her eyes away from him, she glanced at her watch, admitting to herself that it was getting late and she should be returning home. Chloe carefully rose up from the couch and stood on her feet. Feeling some unnamed, overwhelming emotion wash over her, she leaned over and kissed Clark softly on the forehead. With that, she headed outside to her car, leaving the barn that had become more of a home than her own house.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Only a couple weeks had passed since that uncomfortable confrontation with Lex Luthor, but to Chloe it seemed like years. Her father's condition had worsened, and she seemed to be spending more and more time at the hospital, sitting by her father's bed as the monitors beeped quietly. For the first time in her life since her mother had left, Chloe felt helpless and useless. She had tried everything, spending hours at her office searching the internet for any kind of information…but of course, no one outside of Smallville had any experience with Kryptonite and the only scientists she could find were already on the Luthor payroll. Every minute seemed to drag on endlessly. The days seemed to last longer since she started calling in sick at the Daily Planet, choosing instead to stay at the hospital, waiting for her father to wake up for a couple of minutes a day out of his drug-induced sleep.

She hadn't seen Clark lately either, as his attention seemed preoccupied with the lovely Lana Lang. Chloe wasn't surprised. Although Clark and Lana had officially started dating earlier in the year, nothing had really changed. Chloe was still the sidekick, the girl friday, always willing to put herself in second place for Clark's affection. Thoughts she couldn't seem to control echoed through her mind, bitter and biting. Lana was all the way in Metropolis and Chloe still couldn't compete. She tapped her foot anxiously in time with the mechanical hum-like music. She resented the fact that no one had confronted her regarding her as of recent depression. It was petty and ridiculous, she knew, but if it had been Clark or Pete or even Lana, she knew that she would have confronted them and tried to help. And if they wouldn't tell her, she would have done some research and figured it out. A little time and effort seemed like a small price to pay for a friend. And yet no one had said or done anything. Only Lex. Lately, she had often found herself thinking back to her conversation with Lex, his offer and her refusal, the moment where she could see the utter frustration in his eyes. She stood up from the cold metal hospital chair and walked over to the sink in the corner of the room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to hollow out her face and her skin seemed dull and gray. She had lost some weight. She stared for a moment at the strange reflection before grabbing her purse and heading for the door. Of course she had recognized that look of absolute desperation. She knew it well.

"Mr. Luthor, Chloe Sullivan is here to see you?"

"Send her in." Lex waved his hand at the intruder without looking up from his paperwork. After a couple minutes, he heard footsteps approach the door to his office and then stop, waiting for a further invitation, or perhaps a jolt of courage. Lex sighed impatiently. "Chloe, will you just come in here?" Chloe opened the door, looking slightly flustered. "What can I help you with?"

Chloe looked at her hands. There was little in the world she hated more than apologies, especially ones she didn't feel were necessary. But desperate times….

"The last time I saw you, my behavior was…inappropriate. I've been under a lot of pressure lately…" She turned her gaze directly into Lex's eyes "As I am sure you are aware of. And I guess what I'm here to say is…"

"You're sorry?" A smirk flitted across Lex's mouth.

Chloe frowned. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"Well," Lex gently pushed his paperwork aside. "I'm a little disappointed."

Chloe laughed indignantly. "Disappointed?"

"Yes. The almighty Chloe Sullivan apologizing for a few harsh words that were fair enough, if slightly undeserved. Come now, Chloe, you should know me better by now."

Chloe felt a small weight lift off her shoulders as she shot Lex a weak smile. "Yes, I suppose you're right. You're an asshole. There, is that any better?"

Lex laughed, a genuine laugh that sounded unfamiliar and comforting to Chloe. "You're one of the only people I know who have had the nerve to say what you really think of me to my face."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm sure a lot of people just hate you behind your back."

"Yes well, thank you."

An awkward pause came between them, as Chloe fought for words to break the quiet. Lex, on the otherhand, seemed perfectly comfortable in the silence, content to stare her down with a smug little smile.

"Lex, I didn't just come to apologize. I wanted…I want to hear what you can do to help my father. I'm not signing him over to you or anything I just…I just want to hear it for myself."

Lex immediately resumed the businesslike air he had possessed earlier. A professional demeanor is imperative to controlling whatever situation is at hand, and he pulled it off flawlessly. "I have some information here for you, if you'd like to look it over." He rustled through some papers, pulled out a few and put them aside. "And if you have any questions after that, you can call my office."

"Thanks, I'll read through them…but Lex? This isn't bullshit, is it? I mean, I know your work. This…this can't be like the other projects, okay? This is different."

Lex scanned his eyes over the girl in front of him. He had made hundreds of business deals in his lifetime, and yet felt instinctively that this was going to be nothing like any of the others. For one thing, his partner in these sorts of endeavors was rarely a high school girl. He would admit it; he had an odd respect for Chloe Sullivan, who at the moment looked like she had gotten run over by a truck. He carefully examined her disheveled appearance- dark gray t-shirt, dark jeans, tangled hair falling in her face, further darkening the shadows under her eyes. She looked vulnerable and broken, a pale impression of the colorful blonde spitfire he had come to know during his father's trial. His lip curled in distain, in her grief she clearly hadn't been taking very good care of herself. And yet he stepped in close to her, his hand slowly moving up to brush her hair from her face as if it had a mind of its own. He pulled it away a sheer moment before it made its desired contact, sharp as if he'd been bitten. Frowning at his own weak sentimentality, he handed her the stack of papers and walked quickly to the other side of the room, turning to face her from there with a curt, "It would be completely taken care of."

Chloe stood still, mesmerized. She faintly recognized that this was an unsatisfactory response to her demand, but found her tongue thick and silent. What was Lex trying to do? Seduce her? She quickly dismissed the idea, sure that Lex had all the beautiful women he could possibly want, he had no reason to flirt around with a stupid teenager. A thought flashed through her mind and she gritted her teeth. Unless he was flirting with her, knowing she was so pathetic as to jump on any romantic advances he sent her way, just to manipulate her into giving over all power and control in the conversation. A small angry noise sounded in her throat. Lex Luthor thought he could charm his way out of anything. She looked down at the papers, breaking whatever unspoken moment she had taken part in and furrowed her brow. Panic started to rise in her throat. She shouldn't have come back here. She shouldn't have been foolish enough to think a Luthor might actually have something decent to offer her. She gripped the papers tightly in her hand as she repressed an urge to cry, or maybe just explode. Brushing her hand through her hair anxiously, she took in a deep breath and steadied herself.

"You know Lex, I think I'll just look them over right now, so that if I have any questions, I can just ask you here." She reached over and grabbed a chair from up against the wall, pulling it beside his desk. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Well, I'm rather busy this afternoon, with the election coming up, but if you-"

"Of course you don't mind." Chloe sat down, grabbed a pen from his desk and started scanning over the papers. "What's this?"

"Maybe you should take the papers home with you and read them over a few times first before-"

Chloe shot up from her seat and shoved the paper into his face. "What…is...this?"

"It's a chemical combination I've found in certain specimens of DNA that I believe could potentially assist in eliminating the strains of meteor-induced virus in the subject's system."

Chloe thought over his answer for a moment. "In 'certain specimens'?"

Lex cleared his throat. "In a certain specimen."

"Damnit Lex, are you absolutely insane?" Chloe asked quietly.

Taken aback by her reaction, Lex solemnly shook his head. "I don't think so."

Chloe sat back down and narrowed her eyes at Lex. "Why can't you let this go? You're obsessed; you're letting it cloud your judgment. It's impossible."

"No." Lex shook his head fiercely. "It's not. I'm not."

"I can't have a part in this." Chloe felt her anger flaring up to match Lex's determination. "You know I can't." Lex just stared at her blankly.

"Thank you Lex. As always, you've been quite a help."

Lex looked back down at his desk. "Always ready to help a friend out."

Chloe stifled a scream as she slammed the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Chloe paced around her room in a fit of fury. It was impossible. Unfounded in medical history. Who the hell did Lex Luthor think he was? It was an outrageous proposition, but one that twisted around in Chloe's mind. Clark's alien, super-powered blood had certainly kept Clark close to invincible over the past years. She attempted to smooth the crumpled papers that she had quickly shoved into her jacket while making her dramatic exit, laying them down delicately on her desk. Surely if she were to just explain the situation to Clark, he would be more than happy to help her out in any way he could. She sat at her desk and frantically reread the papers, feeling an intensity drill into her head like a migraine. Lex appeared to already have a sample of the DNA in question, which was certainly no good news for Clark. 'He's already got the sample,' Chloe's mind raced. 'It would be so easy to….' All thought stopped in its tracks as Chloe took a quick breath in. There was a flaw. A giant, major, unavoidable flaw. Assuming that Clark's blood had the capability to heal human sickness, it was still a different story entirely as to how it would react to a Kryptonite-induced illness. "Lex doesn't know that Clark can't handle Kryptonite…" she mumbled quietly to herself. "If the blood reacts to the effects of meteor rocks in the same way that Clark does, it'll kill dad." This was ridiculous. She wasn't actually considering this. Even if Clark were to approve of this miracle blood transfusion, it would reveal his powers to Lex, and if it failed, it would only be a hop, skip and a jump away in the fanatical mind of Lex Luthor to realize Clark's weakness too. Some things just weren't worth risking.

She turned to throw the papers away but thought better of it and opened a drawer of her desk to store them in. A glossy swatch of color caught her eye from the back of the drawer and she pulled out a photograph. It was taken two years ago, on Chloe's sixteenth birthday. Her dad, as tradition demanded, had taken Chloe to her favorite restaurant in Metropolis and then instructed the waiter to bring out a store-bought birthday cake laced with candles and Chloe, as tradition demanded, had gasped in mock-surprise. She smiled wistfully at the photograph before placing it back in the drawer, along with the stack of slightly wrinkled papers. Resting her face in her hands, she realized her cheeks were wet and slick with tears. Some things really weren't worth risking, but it all depends on where your priorities lie.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

After much internal debating, the next day Chloe found herself once again in the driveway of the Kents, this time heading directly to the barn with her packet of files rather than bothering with the front door.

"Clark?" she called out, pushing the door open and scanning the dimly lit room carefully. A rustling noise caught her attention and she slammed her hand against the large light switch on the wall. Bright light flooded in, clearly revealing one shirtless, blushing Clark Kent and one messy haired, smiling Lana Lang. Chloe dropped the papers letting them drift haphazardly to the floor. After a moment of initial shock, she bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, cursing herself for having such unfortunate timing.

"Hi Chloe." Lana said casually as Clark hastily buttoned his shirt.

Chloe opened her eyes to look at Lana, who was practically emanating some pink, girly, glowing energy. There was no competition, she was absolutely perfect. Chloe felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if something had physically, significantly cracked. 'Of course Clark would want to kiss her and…oh God.' She tried to shake the image out of her mind but it remained seared into her memory. A jealous nausea built in her stomach and she immediately began to feel a slight pricking behind her eyes. Blinking it away, she scrambled for her papers and headed to the door.

"Chloe, wait a second." Clark called after her.

She turned around quickly, a huge smile plastered to her face. "Yes?" She felt her voice tremble, but she forced it steady. "Clark, this is clearly a bad time. I'll come back later."

Lana stood up and combed through her hair with her fingers. "It's okay, Chloe. I wanted a drink of water anyway." She turned to Clark and shared a small smile with him. "I'll be back in a minute," she whispered as she graced his cheek with a quick kiss. His eyes followed her as she left the room.

"Sorry about that." Clark mumbled.

"I'm sorry I didn't knock." Chloe heard a loud, artificial laugh escape her lips.

"Yeah…so what's up?" He took a seat on the couch and looked up at her expectantly. Chloe noted abstractly that this encounter felt strangely reminiscent of her earlier meetings with Lex. She frowned slightly. Talking to your best friend shouldn't remind you of power struggles with top-of-the-ladder businessmen. It didn't matter. She knew what she came here to do.

"Clark as a result of the meteor shower, the hospitals have been flooded with odd meteor influences." Her voice sounded dull. She tried to brighten it, forcing enthusiasm as if this were just another exciting possible headliner. "Do you think you'll have any problems being around them?" She looked around for Lana, lowering her voice partly out of caution and partly for effect. "I mean, do you think your blood works differently because of…you know."

Clark's eyes widened and listened carefully to see if he could hear Lana. Confirming that she was out of human hearing range, he spoke clearly and softly. "I don't know. I know that I can't be around kryptonite in any form, but I haven't really experienced anything strange with leftover kryptonite effects. I mean, I've had to… handle… a lot of people dealing with problems from meteor rocks, and it's never taken away from my powers. I guess the kryptonite must become diluted in the body or something." He shrugged his shoulders slightly and smiled. "Funny, but I never really thought about it."

Chloe cleared her throat nervously. "But Clark, have you ever noticed anything strange about the way your blood reacts to Kryptonite-induced powers or, um, illnesses? God forbid something should happen to you…."

Clark grinned. "Well, I've never been sick."

"But that's just an everyday cold."

Clark paused to think. "You know something I've always wondered about? Remember when Lionel was in prison with fatal liver failure?"

Chloe laughed coldly, remembering her weeks of exile during the trial that had incarcerated Lionel in the first place. "I think I remember."

Clark nodded. "We had this weird experience where we switched bodies."

"Excuse me?" Chloe smirked disbelievingly. "Well that's a little weird, even for Smallville's standards."

"Yeah well, it was definitely strange. And what's even weirder is that when we switched back, Lionel's so-called 'fatal' illness was miraculously healed."

Chloe felt her jaw drop. "What do you think that means?" She pried gently.

"I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if that's what makes me so powerful. If all my strength is just in my blood."

Chloe's mind started racing with possibilities. She lowered her eyes and fought to control her desperation. Clark tilted his head towards the main house and got up from the couch. "Is something wrong?" Chloe asked.

"No, my mom is just calling me. I better go see what it is." He stood up and walked to leave the barn. "And Chloe? Thanks for caring so much. It's nice to think you came all the way over here just to make sure I was alright."

Chloe felt a heavy weight shift in her stomach. "Of course."

As Clark left, Chloe leaned back against the wall and hissed out a large breath of air. Somewhere along the line, this had gotten far too complicated. She cared for Clark more than anyone in the world- except for maybe her father. He was her best friend. So why hadn't she been able to tell Clark the truth. 'Not that Clark has been very good about telling the truth himself' she thought bitterly, surprised at her own anger. At one point, she and Clark had been so close that words weren't even necessary to communicate. Now, it seemed she could hardly speak to him at all. Feeling completely and utterly isolated, Chloe closed her eyes and tried to formulate a plan.

"Where's Clark?" Chloe's eyes flew open to rest upon the figure of a girl with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, he went inside to talk to Mrs. Kent."

Lana smiled sweetly. "Oh. Everything's okay, right?"

"Yes. Yeah of course it is."

Lana walked around the room, turning her head to Chloe occasionally, as if she was keeping an eye on her. "I'm sorry you had to come in like that. It must have been extremely embarrassing."

Chloe smiled nervously. "No, it's okay. Don't be embarrassed or anything."

Lana mirrored Chloe's smile. "Oh, I'm not embarrassed." Chloe raised an eyebrow and Lana's smile turned suddenly genuine as she giggled. "Okay, maybe a little bit." She ran over to Chloe and grabbed her hands tightly. "It's just been so amazing, Chloe. It's like, after all these years I have this, this fairy tale come true!"

Chloe stiffened uncomfortably. "Congratulations."

Lana's smile wilted as she looked into Chloe's eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I know you and Clark used to have, well, something. But it was awhile ago…."

"Lana, it's fine," she lied smoothly.

"Good." Lana flopped onto the couch and pulled her knees into her chest, hugging them to her body. "Because I'm just so happy, I couldn't stand it if your weren't, too." Chloe bared her teeth in what she hoped approximated a smile.

"You know what, Lana? It's okay. I'm…I'm glad you're happy. I shouldn't have interrupted. I should have called or something. My mistake. I'm going to go now. See you later, okay?" She backed away, still smiling manically, toward the exit, and managed to make it back into her car before she broke down crying. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed. Everything she had ever wanted from Clark was now Lana's. His conversation, his love, even his stupid blood. Chloe wiped her eyes angrily with her sleeve. But not his secret. That belonged to her.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Chloe drove home, recognizing how fitting the sudden rainstorm was. Perfect accompaniment to an onslaught of teen angst and melodrama. The radio was blasting as loud as it would go, attempting to drown out the curses repeating in her head like a mantra. She rolled down her window and sickly enjoyed the harsh wind and stinging rain hitting her face, it was a desperately needed wake up call. She sped up, her foot like lead on the gas, until she heard a strange sputtering sound. Glancing down at the dashboard, she started to laugh. Louder and louder, shooting directly from her chest, verging on hysterical.

She was out of gas.

Swerving over to the side of the road, Chloe jumped out of the car and paced around it. It was too much, as if someone had looked up ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYINGLY BAD DAY in the dictionary and planned this, just for her. She screamed as loud as she could into the rain, the wind choking her and trying to steal her voice away. Complete sentences, even simple words, failed her. She just had to make noise. A strange sense of exhilaration overwhelmed her, there's no freedom like the awareness of being at rock-bottom. She kicked her car with the toe of her shoe, feeling a full-on explosion coming on. A stream of loud obscenities spilled out of her mouth until her chest felt weak and deflated. She was lost in her own emotional release, her own well-deserved catharsis. So lost, she didn't even notice another car pulling alongside hers. She didn't notice a man get out and lean casually against his car, watching her temper-tantrum with mild amusement. It wasn't until she had finally worn herself out, and let her thoroughly drained body slump onto the muddy ground by the side of the road that she noticed the familiar face.

Or rather, the familiar head.

"Damnit Lex." She mumbled breathlessly.

"Don't let me interrupt. Please. Continue." He punctuated his comment with a slight hand gesture.

"Go away." Her cheeks were flaming red with anger and embarrassment. She didn't want to be seen like this, especially with Lex looking sharp and sane, even in a soaking wet suit.

"It looks like you could use a ride." Lex reasoned.

Chloe quickly considered her options. She could either swallow her pride, or what little she had left of it, or sit out here in the rain until someone else happened to drive by. It was a surprisingly difficult decision to make. She stood up, smoothing her muddy hands over her wet, equally muddy jeans. Wiping her eyes with a clean patch of skin on her wrist, she walked over to Lex's car.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" She asked.

"Driving over to Clark's. I wanted to discuss something with him."

She looked dully into Lex's eyes. "You might want to wait awhile. He's busy with company."

The rain started to fall harder, pounding the dirt around them, but Lex made no move to get into the car. "Busy?"

Chloe stared directly at Lex, all energy and anger worn away for the time being. "Busy."

"Oh." Lex responded, pressing his lips into a thin line and nodding as he put the information together. Chloe thought she recognized a flash of anger behind his eyes, but it was gone so fast, she could have imagined it. "Well it's good I drove by when I did.

"Yeah." She looked at her muddy sneakers before peering up at the man in front of her. "So Lex…" Chloe drawled, a slight, twisted smile flickering across her face as she stepped in closer to him. "How does it feel to finally get to be the hero for once?"

He returned the wry smile, reaching behind her to open the passenger side door. "How does it feel to be the one who gets saved?"

Chloe sat down in Lex's car, probably destroying the leather covered seat beyond repair, and thought carefully. After Lex slid into the driver's seat, he saw her shrug her narrow shoulders. "Not terrible."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Lex drove silently, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the muddy girl sitting next to him. He was puzzled over how to handle this situation. Chloe looked utterly exhausted, sinking heavily into her chair. A small part of his chest remained contracted in jealous anger over Chloe's not-so-subtle comment regarding the activity of Clark and Lana. He had hoped…well, it didn't matter what he had hoped. Obviously, despite the signs he had thought signified progress, Clark had bested him once again. He brushed the thought from his mind purposefully. At least he wasn't the only one left out of the party this time, as the limp figure in the passenger seat reminded him. He removed a hand from the wheel to rub away the start of a migraine in his temples. He wasn't exactly a comforting presence, and for a moment, he wished he could be, just to give Chloe back some kind of spark or to make her smile and say something smart and inconsiderate. This type of heroic saving didn't come naturally to Lex. He felt out of his element.

"Am I taking you home?" He asked as street names passed by in a blur.

Chloe's breath caught in her throat. "No. Can you just take me to-"

"No, Chloe." Lex interrupted sharply. "You may have won over the hospital staff so that you can practically live out of their waiting room, but I am not taking you to the hospital tonight."

Chloe wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm and tried to keep her shoulders from shaking. "I just don't want to go home, Lex." She whispered, just a breath above silence.

Lex felt a surge of protectiveness rush through his body, foreign and uninvited. "You can stay in the guest room."

Chloe's eyes flew open and she shot up straight in her seat. "Lex, that's ridiculous, I'm not-"

"Relax." Lex grinned. "The mansion's fairly large. In fact, there's a variety of guest rooms. You can pick the one that's farthest away from me, if it makes you feel any better."

Chloe eyed him for a moment before settling on a surprised but pleased smile. "That's really nice of you, Lex. Thank you." He felt rather proud of his selfless offering, until Chloe's smile faded back to an expressionless blank, leaving Lex just as clueless as he had felt before.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Chloe stepped gingerly out of the shower and reached for a towel. The hot water had cleared her mind and focused her anger. She felt clean and fresh and ready to take action. She was tired of pining in puppy dog-desperation for Clark to suddenly notice or appreciate her. If he didn't need research information or goddamn sex advice, she was completely off the Clark Kent radar. She was simply amazed that it had taken so long to finally come to her senses. A tentative knock on the door and a soft "Chloe?" meant she had company. She wrapped herself tightly in the towel and pressed herself up against the side wall.

"Occupied" her nervous, sing-song voice reached Lex outside the bathroom. He chuckled and stuck his hand awkwardly through the crack in the doorframe.

"I thought you might like some clothing." Chloe grabbed the bundle from his hand and looked the one piece of clothing over.

"This looks a little casual for usual Lex Luthor attire. An old sweatshirt?" She held it up to her body and examined the article in question. "At least it's long. I mean, really, this is all you could pull up?"

"Unless you would like to wear a silk business shirt, I believe this is your only option." He smirked as he heard Chloe grumble in discontent. Lex stared at the space created by the hardly opened door and giving in to his troublesome curiosity, he moved his head in closer to peek through the gap. Before he was able to see anything, the door slammed shut in his face.

"Nice try, Luthor." Chloe responded, her voice unreadable through the heavy wooden door. "You'll have to wait until I'm clothed before you can further enjoy my delightful company."

Lex smiled, but furrowed his brow at the resentment, and slight guilt, of being caught in the act. He walked into his entertainment room to turn on the television, flipping on the 11 o'clock news. As soon as he was seated on the smooth black leather couch, Chloe ambled in casually. Dressed in the worn blue sweatshirt he had handed her, she looked as if she lived there. Lex glanced over her bare legs, his mind drifting dangerously once again toward the unattainable. Chloe noticed the focus of his eyes and sat down on the other side of the large couch, hiding her legs by curling them up beneath her. A few moments passed by without either one of them saying a word. Lex turned back to the television, feigning interest, while Chloe stared at her hands folded politely in her lap. Finally, she spoke.

"Thanks again for this Lex. It's above and beyond, really." She held his gaze when Lex turned his head to face her.

"Chloe, I don't need to remind you exactly how in your debt I am. You sacrificed your safety in order to put my father behind bars, albeit temporarily. All I've sacrificed this evening is a guest room that wasn't being used anyway and an old sweatshirt." Lex looked muted and solemn, making Chloe feel more than a little uncomfortable. She remembered the flash of anger in Lex's eyes after he had found her on the side of the road, and found it still residing in the depths of his face.

"It…it's not fun to be on the wrong side of rejection, is it?" She asked softly, placing a hand lightly on his knee. Lex stared at the intrusion. He grabbed her wrist tightly, still focused intently on the small wrist squirming in his hand. "Lex, that hurts. Cut it out!" She tried to pull her hand forcefully out of his grip.

"You have no idea how I feel, Miss Sullivan." His eyes darkened as he leaned in close to Chloe. "So while it has been a pleasure 'saving you' this evening, maybe you should worry about your own romantic life before you get involved in mine." He released her wrist and stood up abruptly from the couch.

Chloe grabbed her hand back and rubbed the red marks circling her wrist. The helpless anger she had been so relieved to expel was back again in all its glory, building in her center like lava. "Jesus, Lex, what the hell is wrong with you? Do you think I'm going to write an article about this? Think I'll sell you out to your satanic father or something?"

"Friendship hasn't stopped you before." Lex spat coldly. Chloe just looked at him, wide-eyed and wounded. Her weakest moment called out in a below the belt hit.

"I've…I've served my penance for that." Chloe's voice wavered as she held back tears, a feeling that was becoming all too familiar as of late. "That has nothing to do with what's going on here. Me, trying to show a little empathy. You, biting my head off."

"You," he shouted, trailing off as she watched him with a challenging look of expectation on her face. "You," he restarted, but fell silent again. "You're not intimidated by me at all, are you?" he asked quietly.

Chloe figured it was probably best to answer this honestly. "Sometimes I am. For example, I didn't especially like it when you grabbed my wrist." She glared at Lex, pleased to have the upper hand for once. She reveled in the power of it, feeling the compulsion to continue even though she knew she had made her point. "But right now, you're not. You're emotionally hurt, you're fumbling. You're like a little boy who's had a toy taken away. Hardly a force to be reckoned with."

Lex's jaw dropped slightly as Chloe continued her attack full force, slowly, deliberately rising from the couch and smoothly covering the space between them. "You think you're in love with Lana. That she's everything pure and good that can save you from becoming what you think it's your destiny to become. There's no such thing as destiny, Lex." She spoke calmly, bitterly. "It's nothing. Things happen, and there's no higher reason, no higher power to give a shit. Take some responsibility for your own actions."

Lex clenched his jaw, barely restraining his fury. "You're certainly a well of knowledge, aren't you, a little girl whose friends have left her all alone. A little girl whose daddy is dying as we speak. Sounds more like the rants of an angry schoolgirl than the jaded wisdom of an intelligent woman."

Chloe felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She refused to cave. She refused to lose. "And you, Lex. You know all about death. If your mother could see what you've become…she'd be glad she died."

They froze, facing each other, faces flushed and fists clenched. Both aware they had crossed a line. Both aware there was no going back, pretending the last few minutes hadn't happened. Lex, grabbed the back of Chloe's head and pulled her in for a bruising kiss, quieting her and hurting her in the only way he knew how.

Pulling his mouth away from hers but staying as close as possible, he spoke directly onto her lips. "So what am I foolish enough to believe it's my destiny to become."

Chloe's tears continue to fall onto her cheeks as she said what she knew he expected.

"Your father."

Lex paused for a moment, his head giving a quick nod before violently reclaiming her mouth with his own.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Chloe held her mouth stubbornly shut against his. Lex's tongue was persistent, pressing against her mouth to pry her lips open roughly. She knew that she should push him away, call Clark, call anyone to come pick her up and take her…anywhere. But she couldn't move, mesmerized by the motions of Lex's mouth. Carefully, hesitantly, she parted her lips, allowing Lex's tongue to take control of her mouth. She kissed him back, feeling the urgency of the argument take its new form. The kiss wasn't an apology, simply an extension of the play for control they had been partaking in for the past few weeks. It continued like a game of chess. Chloe pushed Lex away slightly, only to lick the bottom of his lip lightly with the tip of her tongue. A soft whimpering noise escaped his throat and he pulled her mouth back to his in order to make up for it, regaining lost ground. He wrapped his arms around her frail body, letting his hands creep up the bottom of the sweatshirt so he could lay his palms flat against the small of her back, pressing her body flush against him. Chloe felt his hands burn into her back like a branding. She spun him around, pushed him onto the couch and straddled his waist, wrapping her bare legs around him. Lex's anger was forgotten in a shudder of lust. His eyes were wide as he stared at the woman on top of him with a sense of awe.

Chloe leaned into him, deliberately rocking her hips gently as she moved, pleased at the resulting gasp from Lex. Checkmate.

"What is it you want from me, Lex?" Chloe breathed into his ear.

Lex drew in a shaky breath and whispered his response, "I want you." He pushed his upper body up on his forearms to brush a gentle kiss on her cheek, continuing them down to her jawline, following the sticky, salty path her tears had left behind, not taking his painful words back but moving forward and away from them. Chloe's skin began to tingle as she tried to define the change that had just occurred. The fierce ferocity of their power struggle had somehow shifted, mutating into some softer, equally forceful moment she couldn't begin to explain. He returned his attention to her mouth, kissing her lips softly, delicately. She couldn't break the contact if she wanted to.

When he finally moved his face away from Chloe's, his eyes looked desperately, almost pleadingly, into hers. "Tell me to stop." He asked her quietly.

Chloe closed her eyes and considered her options. She smiled wryly as she regarded the irony of the situation. Who would have thought she would ever be in this place, lying on a sleek couch with a sexually-charged Lex Luthor. Who would have thought Lex Luthor would ever be the last person she had left. Did she trust him? No. Did she like him? No. But he was all she had, and she clung to him like the life preserver he was. "I'm not going to do that." She answered clearly, eliminating the space between them with a swift kiss.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Chloe groaned as light peeked in through her closed eyelids. She raised her arms above her head and stretched, her back arching away from the soft mattress beneath her. She peered out of one eye around the room, searching for the man who had accompanied her to the bedroom the night before. Lex was nowhere to be seen, but the sound of water running in the bathroom made his whereabouts fairly obvious. Chloe grabbed her clothes, freshly laundered and folded on the dark wooden dresser, and changed quickly into them. Giving in to her own interest, she quietly opened the dresser drawers, peeking into each one. Neatly rolled socks, some boxers, a soft, expensive-looking sweater or two. Pulling open the top right drawer, she sighed and pulled out a little black notebook. A day planner. Flipping to the proper date and scanning over the itinerary, she nodded at her newly acquired information and put it back exactly how she had found it. Grabbing a pen from her purse and a piece of paper from the counter, she scribbled a messy note and placed it delicately on the pillow before leaving the room and exiting the mansion. Once she had made it down the extensive driveway, she pulled out her cellphone and speed dialed her cousin.

"Chloe!" Lois answered shrilly. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for days!"

Chloe bit her lip, resigning herself to the awkward conversation she knew would come up eventually. But not right now. "Lois, I need a ride. Can you come pick me up?"

"Where on earth have you been? Are you okay? How's Gabe doing?"

Chloe growled under her breath. "Can you just drive over here and give me a ride?"

"Where are you?" Lois sighed loudly.

"At the Luthor ancestral castle." Chloe dryly answered. "Just hurry. Please." She hung up, snapping the phone closed in her hand and shoving it back in her purse. Chloe leaned against a street sign, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She was going to fix this. No more stupid games.

Lex walked out of the bathroom with a dark silk robe wrapped loosely around his body. The sheets were rumpled and the bed was empty. Her clothes were gone and he wasn't really surprised. A scrap of paper on the bed caught his eye and he lifted it up to read.

"The goal is to win, but it is the goal that is important, not the winning."

-Chloe

He felt his head begin to pound. What was that supposed to mean? Was it some sort of comment on the activities of the last evening? He could only assume. Lex crumpled the note in his hand and tossed it into the wastebasket. Lex Luthor does not respond to cryptic, post-coital bed messages.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Lex wound his way through the hallways of Lexcorp, pressing his identification card into the scanner and walking past the opening metal doors. This entire day he had been on edge, feeling paranoid and out of sorts. He forced his anxiety into a back corner of his mind, refusing to let it interfere with the quality of his work. The night before had been bizarre. That, plus the puzzling note left on his pillow, was certainly cause enough to feel a little off note. He hadn't intended to take things with the Sullivan girl…Chloe… that far. He grimaced at memories of the evening. Of all the people in the world, it was most unfortunate that the witness to not only his violent loss of control but also his utter emotional vulnerability should be a woman he desperately needed something from. It was a small setback. Damage control would be implemented immediately. A twinge of leftover emotion pulled tight in his chest as he remembered Chloe's tear-stained face, his hands trapped in tangles of blonde hair, the smooth touch of her skin. Lex gasped for breath, fumbling with shaking hands to loosen his tie, trying to stave off the drowning feeling overcoming him. A few deep breaths allowed him to regain his composure. He smiled stiffly at a few employees down the hall, eying him strangely. This was unacceptable.

He twisted a key into an old-fashioned lock, the only one in the building, leading to his own private work office, and turned immediately to the bookshelves on the side wall. Reaching behind a particularly large hardcover, he froze in panic as his hand grasped nothing but air. Lex pulled out two other nearby books, only to throw them to the ground. His eyes flew open and he jumped backwards in shock as his desk chair spun around, revealing a blonde girl holding a manila file in her hands, breezing through it casually.

"Hiya Lex." She deadpanned. "Nice office." She raised an eyebrow over the folder she was holding.

Lex shook off his shock and allowed himself a tight smile. "How did you get in here, Miss Sullivan?"

"Oh, the mystical, magical ways of investigative reporting. Call it luck."

"How about we call it breaking and entering."

"Semantics." She frowned. "You should be more careful where you leave your planner."

Lex moved to stand awkwardly by the edge of the desk. He wasn't planning on dealing with this today, but he might as well do what he could with the situation.

"You left before we had a chance to talk."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "We both said things we shouldn't have, and did things we shouldn't have, but what's done is done. We both got what we needed, right?" Chloe forced her voice steady and dry.

Lex sighed audibly in relief at the seemingly easy out. But something in him ached and he couldn't understand why. The memory of Chloe clinging to his body, arms wrapped around his waist so tight there was hardly a breath of space between them, flashed before his eyes. As upsetting and miserable as the argument had been, the evening had been unlike anything he had ever experienced. The girl now tapping her hand impatiently against the arm of his desk chair had actually needed him, relied on him like oxygen. And he had abused that.

"Lex, tell me you aren't making some fairy tale romance out of what was clearly nothing of the sort." She tried to harden her voice, but it came out wobbly with the strain.

The façade returned immediately. Lex flat lined his voice into paper-thin monotony. "Hardly. I simply regret what I put you through. Apologies don't seem like they could possibly be enough."

Chloe felt the return of his stony defense and tried to be happy. The emotional Lex from last night had been unpredictable, dangerous and strange. This was the Lex she knew how to deal with. This was business. And yet her voice remained thick with everything she couldn't say- regret, embarrassment, need. "I don't need diamond earrings." She said quietly.

Lex raised his eyes to look into hers. "I know."

"I'm sick of playing this." It wasn't until the words were out of her mouth that she realized how truly and deeply she meant them. Chloe's hands began to tremble violently, to the point where she had to lower them behind the desk. She was tired of crying and tired of fighting and tired of wasting her time. Her father was dying. And she wasn't prepared to let that happen.

Lex stared blankly at her, flashes of…something striking through. "I never meant to do this to you, Chloe."

"I'm not a Luthor." Chloe went on. "I don't do this. I don't want to. I'm exhausted. I haven't slept. I can't eat. I can't pay the price for beating you at your stupid games. I don't have the time to waste." She took a breath before continuing. "I know you have a lot to be afraid of. I understand that. You have no reason not to think every single person in the world is out to destroy you. You have no reason not to try to destroy them first."

Lex squeezed fistfuls of fabric from his pants in his hands, fighting the emotion he felt rising in his throat. She shouldn't have come here today. He needed a day to recoup, to recollect himself. She needed it too.

"Maybe we should discuss this later." He offered to Chloe, feeling weak and useless and hating it.

"No, we shouldn't. You have been out to wreck me for weeks. Do you think I don't have enough to deal with? You weren't trying to help, don't delude yourself. Your grand gestures are hot and cold. You offer to help me and then you hurt me. You get to play savior on an unfortunate rainy night and then you thoroughly fuck it up." Her voice lowered at the direct mentioning of their evening together. Lex's mouth twitched and it didn't escape her. "You're not a monster, Lex. You didn't need to break me. I was already broken."

Lex felt the room crumbling around him. Every last bit of resistance, every infinitesimal breath of strength, was sucked out of his body with her words. "I shouldn't have…I mean, I know I…Chloe." He spoke desperately.

"So fix it." She pushed the file towards him, sliding it across the desk. "It's not like you'd be without benefit. You need a test subject. My father needs to live."

Lex found himself unable to speak. This was exactly what he wanted. So why did it feel so sick, so entirely undeserved.

"Lex?"

"Why…why would you trust me?" His voice was so low it was almost a hum.

Chloe tilted her head to Lex and the sides of her mouth twisted so that he couldn't tell whether she was smiling or frowning. "I wasn't aware there was another choice."

Lex didn't appear to have anything to say, so Chloe continued. "Before you found the sample, the similar products your father used were temporary."

Lex nodded, still silent.

"But it's not like that anymore. It'll be a one time thing and it's done."

"Yes." Lex cleared his throat, rediscovering his voice. "It's a DNA mutation. It would be an intensive procedure. I don't know what the potential side effects could be."

'Super strength? Heat vision?' Chloe thought dully. "He'll be alive, right?"

"Chloe, I promise you I won't let anything else happen to him…or you. I won't hurt you again." Lex stood up sharply and took a step closer, getting down on his knees to bring his face to her level. "I promise."

Chloe looked directly into his eyes, felt a tug of emotion and realized it was pity. He really thought he meant the words he was saying. She bit the inside of her cheek when, as he stood up, he brushed a hand inconspicuously through the back of her hair.

"Lex? Don't make promises you can't keep."


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

"Mr. Luthor?"

"It's about goddamn time. You were supposed to call with an update an hour ago."

"He's rather difficult to follow, sir."

"Oh. Well then, if it's getting too difficult for you, maybe I should hire someone else to look into this."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"I'm sure you are. Now are we going to waste more time with polite chit-chat or are you going to tell me the results of the investigation."

"You were correct in your deduction that he has taken up the revitalization project. He has obtained a sample of blood he believes to be integral to the process, using a DNA mutation."

"It seems I've underestimated him once again. Who's the target?"

"A Mr. Gabriel Sullivan. I believe he was under your employment from 2000 to 2004."

"Very interesting. I expect there to be a complete set of medical documents on my desk by the end of the day. I've been playing nice for far too long. My son needs to learn a lesson regarding what happens when you attempt to profit from the brilliance of others."


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Lex followed a few steps behind Chloe as they entered the hospital. The bitter scent of bleach and latex gloves assaulted his senses, and he smiled blandly as Chloe turned to him, her nose scrunched up in retaliation. She was wringing her hands with nervous energy. "I hate hospitals." She explained lamely.

"You have every reason to." He answered, thinking back on the many escapades of Chloe Sullivan that had landed her on those white sheeted hospital mattresses.

Her mouth quirked into a smile as she continued to make her way towards her father's room. Lex snaked a hand forward and rested it on the small of her back. Her body stiffened, as if to pull away from the possessive gesture. She glanced sideways to Lex, in an attempt to appraise the situation, before spinning around to face him head on. Lex's breath caught in his throat at the new closeness, his arm instinctively pressing into her back, pulling her in. The warmth of her skin through her clothing caused his pulse to rhythmically pound.

"Lex?"

"Hmm?" He murmured huskily.

"Could you please give me some space?" His body jolted upright as he took a tightly controlled step backward.

"Better?" His mouth was pressed into a thin line, refusing to give in to embarrassment. Coming on to a business partner, a grieving young girl, in a hospital, where her father was mortally ill, was not one of his sharpest moments. Despite a strange feeling of closeness, and his body's own physical desires, it was imperative that he control his baser instincts and maintain a professional attitude throughout.

"Yes, thank you." Chloe responded, fighting a blush. "I mean, you don't have to be hanging all over me, pushing me in the right direction. I know how to find the room myself."

"Well then," Lex extended his arm in a dramatic gesture. "Lead on."

Chloe paused for a moment, preparing herself mentally and emotionally for the upcoming encounter with her father. She closed her eyes and pretended that when she walked through the door, he would be awake, sitting upright and able to hold a conversation with her. She imagined that she would walk in to find him picking at a tray of cafeteria food and announcing that it was the last meal he'd have to eat away from home. She pictured a healthy grin on his face as he complained about the lack of flowers and greeting cards. A gentle hand on her shoulder shook her out of her silent prayers.

"Are you okay?" Lex asked softly, examining her face thoughtfully.

"Yes." She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hi Dad." She spoke, attempting a casual lilt to her voice as she strolled into the room. She refused to look directly at the body on the bed.

Lex, however, could hardly avoid it. His face paled as he took in the weakened figure. "Chloe…his face…"

A brittle, choking sound was pulled forcibly from her throat. "Jaundice. The bruises. They're…they're all over his body." Chloe shifted her eyes to the ground. "Would you like to see the papers?" She grabbed the clipboard from the desk on the side of the room and passed it over unceremoniously to Lex.

"Has he been unconscious often?" Lex scanned over the medical reports carefully. "Forgetful? Delirious?"

"Yeah. At first they thought it was the pain medication, but now they think it's-"

"Hepatic encephalopathy."

"Yes." Chloe bit her lip sharply to keep herself in check. Lines of effort began to etch their way onto her forehead. Lex looked up at her and felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't afford to comfort her. He had to control his emotional behavior. If he wanted to help her at all, he had to keep himself calm and if he wanted to stay calm he had to keep himself detached.

"They've stopped giving him tranquilizers as a result of that." Lex flipped through pages.

"Can you go outside for a little while?" Chloe looked anxiously toward Lex. "I know we have to work on this, but can I just have a second alone? Please?" Lex nodded and left the room.

Chloe sighed, finally allowing the pain to move through her body fluidly. She pulled a chair up closely to her father's bed, grimacing at the musty smell, refusing to believe it smelled anything like death. She forced herself to focus on her father's face, pallid and bruised. "Dad, I know you might not like it that Lex is here. I'm not really sure I like it myself. But…I have to believe that if you were able to think this all through, you would come to the same conclusion I did. That anything is worth being able to get through this." Chloe clumsily brushed a few stray tears out of her eye. "We always get through it, Dad." She felt around awkwardly for his hand and held it between her palms gently, avoiding the punctured areas and intravenous tubes. "I shouldn't have left you alone. I haven't been here in two days. I should have come back here. I wanted to. I just...couldn't. I'm sorry." Chloe released his hand and stood up. "And you need Lex's help." She pressed, as if she had sensed an argument in his silence. "I guess we both do." She walked back to the door and pushed it open.

"Lex?" She called out, looking around the empty hallway. Shooting her father a quick look, she headed out toward the main hall of the hospital. "Lex?" Her pulse began to race irrationally after a few moments without a response. She started walking faster, exiting the Critical Care Unit, passing the Radiology department and speeding into a light jog as she went through the Accident and Emergency Center. Her body began to slow down as she realized he must have left. He must have seen how sick her dad was and realized it wasn't worth the effort. It's not like a young bald man in an expensive suit is that hard to miss. She slowed to a stop and bent over, her hands gripping her knees painfully. What was she going to do? Was she supposed to chase around through Smallville now, trying to find him? She couldn't afford to lose his help. Releasing her grip on her jeans, she stood straight, taking in a few more shallow breaths as she looked around. Then she saw him. Standing beside a glass wall a distance further down the hall. Relief coursing through her veins, she ran, practically throwing herself at him, and wrapped her arms tightly around his body.

"Fuck!" She shouted, pulling away and shaking him with all her might. "Don't ever, EVER do that again, Luthor!" She pulled him in to her again, her heart pounding like tribal drums in her ears.

Lex's arms stayed limp at his sides, weakly drugged into motionless lethargy. Chloe reluctantly released him from her vice-like hug, almost afraid he would leave again, and turned to face what Lex had been so intent to leave her for.

The Infant Care Center.

Chloe leaned against the other side of the hallway, letting her back slide down the wall as her knees bent in front of her, until she was folded up neatly on the ground. Nothing with Lex could ever be uncomplicated. Or painless.

A moment later, Lex joined her against the wall, falling with a slight 'thump' onto the floor. They didn't speak to each other or touch each other, or make any acknowledgement of the other's presence. They just sat there, one thinking about what he had lost, and the other thinking about what she had to lose.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Lex was driving a little fast for Chloe's comfort, but she tried to keep her mind off it. She had stopped home, changed into some different clothes, and graciously accepted a lunch proposal generously offered by Lex. She looked down at the ripped hole in the side of her sneaker and wondered if maybe she shouldn't have paired a black t-shirt with her jeans, as if wearing black would call upon some Grim Reaper of sorts. Not that Chloe was superstitious, but God knows she'd seen weirder things happen. She brushed the insecurity off. While she certainly didn't want to be calling on any demons of death, she felt no reason to wear bright, cheerful colors when she felt anything but bright and cheerful after their little hospital excursion.

"Do you want to give me a hint where you're taking me?" Chloe watched the cows in passing through the passenger seat window, squinting behind her dark sunglasses.

"Guess." Lex smirked.

"Let's see…maybe Al's Steak and Fries? That seems right up your alley. Or maybe the Chat and Chew diner? Nothing like a small-town greasy spoon to dirty up a pair of professionally tailored slacks. Or are you just taking me to the Talon, to reminisce over good old times?" Chloe's laughter died as she watched Lex suddenly tense up. "You're not really taking me to the Talon, are you?"

"I just need to sign over a few papers. Since Lana left, there's no real reason for me to hold onto the business."

Chloe's face fell at the mention of her former housemate, roommate, and pseudo-friend. "Lovely." She drawled sarcastically.

Lex glanced over at Chloe, taking note of the attitude change and immediately understanding its cause. "Fortunately, I've found a family willing to keep the coffee shop without making too many extreme changes, which will help me avoid potential…emotional conflicts with the former co-owner. Whom I don't plan to be seeing any time soon."

Chloe grinned. She knew he was putting on a show for her, but that wasn't to say she didn't appreciate it. "Fine, let's just make it quick. After how many years of suffering mucked up orders for the sake of loyalty, I'd think we finally deserve a decent cup of coffee."


	15. Chapters 15 and 16

CHAPTER 15

"Well aren't you just the pinnacle of good breeding." Chloe stepped out of the car, nodding her head towards Lex, who had taken it upon himself to open the side door for her. "But for the record, even with my weakened girlish sensibilities, I am fully capable of opening car doors myself."

As Lex swung the door shut behind her, she caught him suppressing a smile and found herself surprisingly pleased. The last few days had been awful. Beyond awful. It seemed only fair that the bad mood lifted. Maybe it was a good omen.

When they reached the Talon, Lex stepped forward to open the door for her again. "Sorry. Habit." His eyes sparkled with humor, making Chloe feel flushed and flustered, and the closest thing to happy she could remember feeling in weeks.

Walking into the familiar space, the happy feeling quickly faded. Everything in the Talon seemed too much the same. As if the world had kept right on going, despite the fact that hers had been at a temporary standstill.

"Chloe!" She shut her eyes, like maybe if she couldn't see him, Clark would just go away. It didn't work. He had dropped the crate of baked goods he had obviously been delivering and headed over to her. "Chloe, I've been looking all over for you."

Chloe turned around slowly, looking at Clark from over the rims of her sunglasses. "Of course you have. What can I help you with, Clark?"

Clark's brow furrowed in irritation as he noticed Lex standing particularly close to her. He turned away from him, refusing to further acknowledge his presence, and continued to speak to Chloe. "Nothing. Why didn't you tell me about your dad?"

Chloe stiffened sharply. Her mouth curled into a sneer. "Did some research of our own, did we?"

"No, Lois was nervous that she hadn't seen you. She thought I already knew. I can't believe you would keep something like this from me and Lana. We're your friends, we could have helped."

Chloe laughed bitterly, and when Lex's arm wrapped around her side, she hardly thought to remove it. "Clark, you've always been great at the whole save-the-day thing, but sometimes really saving someone means more than just showing up minutes before death. Don't take it personally; I know you and Lana have both been…preoccupied lately."

"Are you angry with me for some reason, Chloe?"

"Angry? No. No, I'm not, Clark." She pushed a hand through her hair and forced a light smile. "I don't have the time to be angry with you. In case you haven't heard, my dad's dying." Clark stumbled backwards slightly before pulling himself together and noticed Lex's arm around her waist. When Lex saw Clark's eyes fill with rage, he tightened his arm around Chloe.

"Lex, could you give Chloe and me a second to talk?"

Chloe looked to Lex and nodded her approval. "Don't worry. It won't take long." Lex shrugged and walked over to the front of the room, starting up a conversation with the young girl behind the counter. Chloe removed her glasses and tapped her sneaker against the ground. "Yes, Clark?"

"What the hell is going on, Chloe? You know Lex is dangerous."

"I guess I don't know. Dangerous how?"

"Chloe!"

"Don't worry so much, Clark." She leaned close to him, standing on her tip-toes to bring her mouth up near his ear. "After all," she whispered harshly. "Your secret's always safe with me." Chloe pulled away and looked coldly into Clark's eyes, which seemed wide and blue and vulnerable. "I'm sorry the only way you can see this is as a betrayal. I had to make a choice. I made it." Something in her began to soften and melt as she continued to look at Clark, the stupid, inconsiderate, oblivious, wonderful boy she had grown so close to over the years. Her best friend. Her first love. The same boy she had kissed at fourteen and the same boy she had stared at longingly from the comfort of his couch just a few weeks ago. It's amazing how quickly things can change. A soft, wistful smile flashed across her face. "I couldn't wait any longer, Clark. We all have to do what we can to be happy." When the pain in his face became overwhelming and exhausting, she let a hardened defense surround her heart. All emotion was washed from her body as she stared at the boy who had been all of those beautiful things for her, and was now a stranger. "And I can't be happy if my dad is dead. Goodbye, Clark. See you around." Feeling shaky and fragile, she walked over to Lex and grabbed his arm for support. "Can we leave now?" Lex nodded and lead her to the door.

CHAPTER 16

"Yes?"

"Inject the increased dosage like we discussed."

"But Mr. Luthor, you are aware that this can be traced back to you with little to no effort. The medical documents state very clearly that use of all tranquilizers has been ceased. Your son will certainly suspect your involvement and-"

"Good. Now get to work. If Gabe Sullivan is alive tomorrow morning, you won't be."


	16. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Lex waited patiently on the porch step of Chloe's house while she awkwardly fumbled for her keys. "You really don't have to stay here until I get through the door, Lex." She half-smiled at him. "I can pretty much guarantee that nothing disastrous will happen in the 10 seconds it'll take me to find my keys."

Lex watched her reach around in her purse, nearly dropping her bag in the process and all but growling in aggravation. He watched her forehead crinkle. He watched every detail, examining her like she was a painting. Every freckle and blonde streak in her hair demanded attention. He was overwhelmed by her, by the puzzling need to make everything up to her, and he wasn't sure what part he played in this strange new relationship. He had been responsible for people before, hundreds of men and women at the plant depended on him every day. But his mind couldn't seem to wrap around the undeserved trust Chloe had in him and he hated things he couldn't explain. He certainly wasn't going to turn into a simpering fool over it, but he was uncomfortable with his newly discovered fascination with her, the fact that the inexplicable bonding that had occurred between them had resonated somewhere deep inside him. Somewhere that he had previously believed to be untouchable.

"Lex!" Lex forced himself out of his own thoughts, realizing that he had been caught staring at Chloe. She grinned. "Door's been open for quite awhile now. Feel like leaving?"

"No." He surprised himself as his thoughts suddenly were spoken out loud.

Chloe shot him a confused look before shrugging her shoulders. "Fine. Want something to drink?" She strolled into the house, leaving Lex to trail in behind her. "And no, we don't have scotch, even though I might be able to scrounge up some cheap wine if you ask nicely."

"Water is fine, thank you." He leaned against the wall as she disappeared into the kitchen. "How are you?" He called out.

He heard her laugh mix with the sounds of cabinets being opened and closed. "Surprisingly good." Her head peeked around the corner at Lex. "Why?"

"You just seem happy. It's...nice." He cursed himself for sounding so sentimental, but he couldn't deny the honesty of the statement.

Chloe walked back into the room, handing Lex a glass of water and placing her own glass on the table. She sat on the couch and sighed as her body sunk into the familiar cushions. "Sit down, Lex, you're making me nervous."

"I'm terribly sorry." He feigned great shame as he took a seat on the worn Lazy Boy next to the sofa.

"I wouldn't say happy, but yes. I just...thanks."

"It's a mutually beneficial deal."

"Lex, you're helping me out. Accept some goddamn gratitude."

Lex smirked. "All right then."

Chloe fought the odd panic rising in her chest. The situation was beginning to feel far too familiar. Deja vu, except instead of sleek black leather there were fraying fabric cushions. Lex looked terribly out of place sitting on her dad's favorite chair, the brown nightmare she had begged him to get rid of over and over but he just wouldn't let it go. The panic increased. Lex shouldn't be sitting on that stupid, ugly chair. It should be her father. Her eyes started to water. She grumbled in protest, her mind willing her body to stop. 

Lex's eyes widened. "A second ago we were discussing how cheerful you were feeling, and now you're crying?"

A sob escaped Chloe's throat as the tears she now knew to be inevitable coursed down her face. "I know! It's ridiculous! I'm sorry." She wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands and dropped her head to hide her face. "I'm really not unhappy, well I mean I am but as things go I'm fine, I don't know why I can't seem to stop..." She suddenly felt two warm hands on her cheeks, gently prying her head upright.

"Why is this always how it goes with us?" Lex questioned softly. Chloe didn't answer. She couldn't. How could she possibly explain that even when she hated Lex, she had to be near him, because he was the only thing left that gave her any hope? In the same way that she couldn't stand being in her house, she couldn't leave because it was the only tie to a normal life that she could hardly even remember.

"I'm sorry Chloe." He spoke again. "I wish I could make this better for you. I promise I'll do everything in my power to get your father out of the hospital. After my behavior before...even though one thing doesn't justify the other, you know that I'll do whatever I can."

Chloe smiled through her tears. "Lex, stop being such a martyr. I hurt you too. I meant every word that night, just as much as you did. It's just...the way we are. And then neither of us can forgive ourselves. But I'm not going to blame you for anything. You don't owe me an apology. Whatever was done, it was mutual. There's no need for forgiveness at this point."

Lex's face screwed up in an unreadable mix of emotion. "Well, aren't you just an angel of mercy."

"Everyone needs mercy sometimes."

Lex leaned in and pressed his lips softly to hers, wrapping his arms around her tightly. He quickly pulled away and looked into her face, searching her features for an answer, for anything that would explain his current state. Her eyes, having automatically closed, stayed shut as she mumbled out a soft but clear "Don't." Lex took another step away from her, focusing intently on maintaining some sense of composure. Chloe opened her eyes and frowned. "No, Lex." She said, speaking a little louder now. "I meant don't stop."


	17. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Chloe woke up surprisingly warm. Opening her eyes, she saw a pale arm wrapped around her waist and felt a vast expanse of warm skin pressed against her back. A thin smile played on her lips as she gave herself a play-by-play of the night's activities. She turned her body over, inch by inch as not to wake her sleeping bedmate, so that she was facing Lex head-on. Even in sleep, he and Clark were polar opposites. Where Clark had curled up and stretched out like a small puppy, Lex sprawled out on the mattress like a lion marking his territory, arm pressing forcefully into her side, legs akimbo on tangled sheets.

"Stop staring at me, Sullivan." He growled, his eyes still closed. "I'm sleeping."

Chloe snickered amusedly. "Still sleeping, huh? Well, let's just test that theory." She squirmed around on the bed to get closer to Lex and proceeded to litter his face with light kisses, murmuring in her thickest, throatiest voice in-between them. "Last night was amazing. Transcendental. You, Alexander Luthor, are a sex god."

Lex struggled to keep a straight face, but eventually cracked into a smug grin. Admitting his surrender, he opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. "But surely you were expecting that."

"Worry not, Mr. Luthor," she rolled her tongue over the formality. "All expectations have been consistently met. But what about me? Any expectations met or thrown out the window?"

Lex looked into her eyes, realizing the absurdity of Chloe Sullivan's not-so-subtle fishing for compliments. "Well, you were very quiet."

Chloe shook her head as she puzzled over his comment, her mussed hair flaring out around her. "Quiet? Please explain."

"Well, since I'm had the pleasure of your acquaintance, I have known you to be boisterous, outgoing, and even obnoxious when the situation demanded it. I, by all accounts, would have pegged you for a screamer." Chloe smacked him playfully across the chest as she rolled away from him and slid off the bed.

"Such a funny guy in the mornings, Lex. You should get a talk show." She bent down to pick some articles of clothing off the floor of her bedroom and dropped them on her desk. She noticed her phone flashing, flipped it open and dialed in to check her messages.

"Duty calls?" Lex smirked as he watched Chloe practically pounce on her cell phone. She shook her head, suddenly looking pale as she clutched the phone to her ear. Her mouth drawn into a tight line, she started to pull on whatever clothes she grabbed first, dropping her phone in the process. Lex crouched to pick it up, and pressed it to his own ear only to hear a mechanical voice asking whether or not the message should be saved or deleted. "Chloe, what's going on?"

"We have to get to the hospital, Lex. Hurry up and get dressed."


	18. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Chloe raced through the hospital hallway, a group of orderlies trailing behind her. Lex too, was somewhere in the crowd, but he could certainly fend for himself. Chloe's mind had shut itself closed to any external stimuli, insisting only on seeing her father.

"Ms. Sullivan, please come back here!" One particularly perturbed nurse begged as her clean white shoes smacked against the linoleum.

"I want to see my dad."

The nurse sped up and grabbed Chloe by the back of her t-shirt, struggling with the fiery girl until she had pulled her to a halt. "I understand that, ma'am, but I would simply like to have a few words with you beforehand."

Chloe glowered with anger, the intense heat radiating off her body. She would have to be calmed down but Lex found himself wishing he weren't the one who would have to do it. He inched forward towards her, as if approaching an armed enemy. "Chloe...why don't you take a few deep breaths, we'll sit down and listen to what this woman has to say."

Chloe stepped forward and slapped Lex hard across the face. "Don't condescend to me." She spat and started to back herself up, cautiously keeping her body turned towards Lex and the orderlies. "I," she instructed, "am going to see my dad. Now. It is perfectly within my rights to see my father and there is absolutely no way you are going to-" Before Chloe had a chance to react, Lex had leapt forward and tackled her to the ground. Pinning her struggling body underneath his weight, he held her arms beside her to prevent any retribution.

"Chloe, you're acting like a child. Shut up and listen." Her jaw gaped open, shocked into a temporary submission, and she nodded dumbly. He jerked his head toward the nurse. "Proceed."

The nurse, looking extremely shaken herself, pulled out her clipboard and began to speak. "Ms. Sullivan, as you are aware, your father was taken off certain painkillers and tranquilizers due to medical complications. Unfortunately, there is a suspicion that these exact drugs somehow found a way into his system. If so, chemicals would have reacted very poorly with the medication we were giving him for the hepatic encephalopathy. I'm sorry, Ms. Sullivan. Your father-"

Lex felt Chloe's breath begin to quicken and he swiftly switched positions, grabbing both her wrists in one hand while using the other to cover her mouth before she screamed. "Get me the medical documents." He instructed the nurse coldly.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but you don't have the-"

"Get me his goddamn medical documents!" He roared, and the nurse sped off efficiently. "Chloe, I need you to keep yourself together, okay? We're going to figure this out." Chloe's eyes narrowed and Lex felt sharp teeth cut into the palm of his hand. He yanked his hand away, giving Chloe the opportunity to push him off her and scramble to her feet.

"You..." she hissed menacingly, "Get the hell away from me." After a moment of hesitation, Lex nodded his head and stepped to the side. Like a woman possessed, she turned on her heels and ran for her father's room. He was going to be there. This was some sick joke, it couldn't possibly be the truth, because if it was, she would have felt it. She would have known it inherently, like a sixth sense. She would have felt the danger and come rushing back to the hospital just in time to somehow save the day.

By the time Lex and the other nurses had made it there, Chloe was curled up on the floor, her body trembling with silent dry sobs.

"Where's my dad?" She let out a pained cry. Lex felt something drop in his stomach and for a moment, felt like he was going to be sick. Chloe looked like death herself, pale faced and shaking with grief. He glanced at the door, fighting his urge to escape with his business-like understanding of his duty to Chloe. He had to stay here, if nothing but to hold witness to Chloe's pain.

"When we couldn't get a hold of you, we proceeded to refer the body to the coroner, to confirm or deny the traces of tranquilizers." The nurse answered quietly from the doorway.

Lex carefully bent down onto his knees and crawled toward Chloe, reaching out to stroke her back with his hand. As soon as he made contact, she whimpered and fell limp into the floor.

"This is all your fault." She choked out.

Lex silently agreed. This was his fault. It had to be. But his goal now was to keep her calm, and admitting that simply by becoming involved, he had all but secured Gabe Sullivan's death was not the way to keep Chloe under control. Instead, he continued to rub her back. "You can't think that I did this."

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't here. I should have been here. Instead I was just fucking around."

"Chloe, this isn't your fault!" He grew restless with frustration. He wasn't prepared to handle this. He had suffered through his own losses, how could he be expected to suffer through anyone else's?

Chloe blinked her eyes and looked up at Lex. "I hate you." Her voice was low and steady, and utterly calm. He instinctively withdrew his hand, and allowed a dry, sarcastic barrier to fall between Chloe and himself.

"I'm sure."

"You don't even know. You couldn't possibly understand. I loved my dad more than anything, Lex." Finally, tears began to drip down her face. She almost laughed from the relief of it, the full pain that made her feel like she had been stabbed in the chest. The loss of her father, the feeling of guilt and betrayal that attacked her everytime she glanced at Lex. She deserved this grief. All grief, all pain, everything to come. She welcomed it. Blinking the new tears out of her eyes, she brought her attention back to Lex, sitting here beside her with that goddamn blank expression on his face. "But then, maybe you have. And maybe that means there's hope for me after all, because if you can sit here looking like a fucking marble statue, completely cold, completely emotionless...then maybe one day I won't feel like I lost the only thing worth anything to me. Maybe I can be just like you, Lex Luthor, and just stop caring and stop feeling and become completely and totally dead. Just like you." Her voice crackled and trailed off as she felt a new wave of emotion wash over her. "Just like my dad." She forced through the stifling grief and continued. "It wasn't just that I loved my dad. My dad was the only person in the world who loved me. And no one will ever love me like that again."

Lex had let her talk without interrupting, figuring it simply a part of his fated punishment. As she fell back into herself, he finally opened his mouth to speak. "That can't be true."

She turned on him with anger blazing in her eyes. "Do you love me, Lex?"

The room seemed painfully silent as Lex looked at the ground. Chloe laughed at the guilty, strained look on his face, her tears suddenly feeling like ice water on her flushed cheeks. She stood up shakily, brushing her jeans off with her hands. "I didn't think so." She moved toward the door to leave.

"Chloe, please wait." Lex jumped to his feet as Chloe turned around slowly, her face twisted with the effort of restraint.

"Lex, right now I want to kill you. And looking at you makes me want to kill myself. And one death per day is enough for anyone. I have paperwork to deal with, and you have no place here. So just leave."

"I promised to protect you. I promised to look out for you, no matter what. You're not going to get rid of me that easily." He stepped toward her but she stopped his motion by placing her hands on his chest.

"I don't want your protection, Lex. You kill everything you touch." She pushed him away, maybe a little harder than she needed to, and walked purposefully toward the nurse's office to discuss funeral details.


	19. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Lana sighed loudly, brushing a hand through long dark hair. The house had been thoroughly cleaned and sorted, the FOR SALE sign on the front lawn striking her emotions harder than she had really expected it to. This had been her home too, after all, and Gabe had, in a way, been her family. It broke her heart to know that his corny jokes and terrible attempts at cooking dinner were things of the past, and it hurt her even more that Chloe hadn't even thought to tell her he was sick in the first place. And now here she was, on call from Chloe with no apology in sight, to help sell the house before Gabe Sullivan had even been buried. And Chloe had locked herself in the bathroom.

"Chloe!" She shouted, leaning against the door. "Come on, open the door."

"Please just leave me alone for a second." She snapped from the bathroom, her voice muffled by the sound of running water. "I'm meditating."

"You are not. You're the one who called and asked for my help."

"If you don't want to be here then go!" Chloe swung the door open and Lana gasped slightly at her appearance. She was soaking wet in dripping clothes, her eyes wild and aggressive.

"Chloe..."

"Yes?" She challenged, with a trademark eyebrow quirked. For a moment, Chloe looked so...normal, that Lana was tempted to forget that she had obviously been standing in the shower fully dressed. But this was not healthy behavior, and Chloe was her friend...mostly. She had sworn to be there in her time of need, if not to ease Chloe's pain, then to ease her own guilt over her absence throughout Gabe's illness. She tugged gently at Chloe's arm, guiding her out of the bathroom before reaching behind her to turn off the shower faucet.

"Let's get you some dry clothes."

Chloe's face softened a bit as she relaxed. "I packed everything." She mumbled quietly.

"Well, I'll look and see if I can find anything of mine left laying around." As Chloe's noise scrunched up in distaste, Lana scowled. "I'll try to find something not pink." She grumbled as she turned to begin her search. Chloe grabbed her by the sleeve so she faced her.

"Thank you, Lana." She said with quiet sincerity. Lana smiled and wandered off to the bedroom, leaving Chloe shivering and wet in the hallway.


	20. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

"Selling the house so soon?"

"Go away, Mr. Luthor."

Lex stood awkwardly in the doorway, pulling his checkbook out of his back pocket. "I hope you don't mind, the door was open. I'd like to help you. And for the future, taking a shower works better without the excess apparel."

Chloe walked over to Lex, looking at the ground rather than making eye contact. "Put your checkbook away." She moved him slightly so that he was outside of the doorframe and closed the door in his face, locking it. The doorbell rang.

Then it rang again.

And again.

"Chloe, can you get that?" Lana called out from the bedroom.

"It's not anyone I want to talk to." She responded calmly.

Lana trudged into the front room with a MetU sweatshirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. "These should do for now." She handed them to Chloe before unlocking the door and pulling it open. "Lex? What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

Lex looked at Lana, her beautiful hair, expressive eyes, lithe form. 'It's amazing how far away from our original plans life can take us,' he thought matter-of-factly, surprised that he really didn't feel it was for the better or worse. "I'm here to make an offer on the house." He scribbled in his checkbook before ripping out a check and handing it to Lana. "I hope it's satisfactory."

Lana nearly fainted as she read the cash amount. "Lex, this is way too much."

"I don't want him to have it." Chloe spoke levelly.

"Lex?" Lana asked him, wide-eyed.

"That's the amount I am willing to pay for the property, and I'll be willing to take it off your hands by the end of the week." He glanced over at Chloe. "If that suits the owner."

Lana pulled Chloe to her side and whispered frantically into her ear. "Chloe, this could cover the rest of your tuition at school, plus give you enough spending money to get you through the next few years. Take the offer."

Chloe peeked at the check from over Lana's shoulder and nodded curtly. "Fine. You want it, you got it. But I'm not going back to MetU, Lana, so don't get your hopes up."

Lex furrowed his brow. "A college education is important, Miss Sullivan. If money is still a problem, I'm sure we could work out an arrangement."

Chloe glared at him. "As hard as it may be for you to understand, I don't want your help. So if you want to buy this house, as property for a new LexCorp experiment farm for meteor-enhanced cows or maybe just as some sort of sick memento, then good for you. But I don't need anything else, and I certainly don't need advice." She turned back to Lana. "The paperwork?" Lana nodded dumbly and left the room to get the necessary papers.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Lex asked Chloe, his voice low and hard.

"I could ask you the same thing." She grinned, but it didn't look like it used to. Instead, of the light feeling in his chest at seeing her smile, Lex found himself a little nervous.

"I thought you wanted to major in journalism. Go back to work at the Daily Planet."

"Plans change, Lex." She said dully. "All I know is that I have to get out of here. Out of this house and away from you."

"I'm not my father, Chloe." He growled. "My father did this. You know he did. It wasn't me. He left his path so easy to trace, it was like-"

"He wanted you to catch him? Hmm. Tough one there, Lex. Your dad wanted to remind you who's the boss. Big surprise. We both already knew your dad was an asshole. At least you have one."

"Had one." Lex's eyes burned into hers.

Chloe paled and wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "Lex, no..."

"You said to me that there's no such thing as fate, and I just can't accept that. My father deserved whatever he got. I hope he suffered just like he made me suffer. And you, who didn't deserve any of it. For the first time in my life, I've achieved some sort of balance. If wickedness is punished, that must certainly mean that goodness is rewarded. Right?" His eyes glowed with passion and intensity, pleading with her to understand. Instead she took a step away from him.

"You sound insane, Lex." She murmured.

"Says the girl in soaking wet clothes." He commented dryly.

"How...how did he die?"

"A gas explosion."

Chloe tilted her head in thought. "Ironic."

Lex reached out to her, grabbing her hands and pulling her close. "I believe the correct word is coincidental."

His mouth was so close to hers, she could feel his breath tickling her face. The scent of him, the feel of him, everything she had wanted to forget. "Semantics," she whispered, before closing the space and brushing her mouth softly against his. He responded immediately, enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her so close that she could hardly remember where one began and the other ended. She pulled her head away, gasping for breath as Lex bent down to kiss her neck. "You killed your father."

"He got what he deserved." He repeated, in-between kisses, the words resounding hot against her neck. "And besides, he killed yours."

Chloe stiffened in his arms. "No." She started to struggle against him but he held his arms tight around her. "No, don't do that to me, Lex. Don't put another death on my conscience."

"That's not what I meant!" He argued between clenched teeth as he wrestled with her in his arms. "Chloe, please, just calm down and let me explain."

"I all but lit the match! I killed my father and I killed yours. We did." She shook her head, her hands snaking between their bodies to press against her temples. "We did...we're tied together in death, Lex. This isn't the way I wanted it."

Lex let her go, dropping his arms to his sides. "I need you, Chloe."

Chloe kept shaking her head, the ground spinning beneath her. "No...no don't say that."

Lana came in and stood stunned in the hallway, not quite sure how to handle the situation. "What's going on?" she asked inquisitively. Lex ignored her, focusing intently on Chloe who had now backed herself up against the wall.

"Why not? It's true." He laughed bitterly. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to say that? I have spent my entire life learning not to rely on anything and yet I find myself in this strange situation. I need you. And hell, Chloe, I want you. I still do. For some reason, you bring out the best in me."

Chloe looked up through her trembling hands, her voice rising hysterically. "The best? The best? You just..." She looked over at Lana, whose eyes were wide with shock and curiosity. She couldn't say it, not with Lana here. "You know what you did, Mr. Luthor. You can still have the house, but I can't give you any more of me. I don't have anything left to give you. So just...take the house and let me go."

Lana looked at Lex, standing straight and tall and powerful in the middle of the room, then looked over at Chloe, practically cowering in the corner. "Lex, time to leave." She shook her hands at him, shooing him out the door. "You have terrible timing." She smiled, and he felt anger build in his throat at the look of pity she was giving him. "Just give her some time to heal. I'll stop by the mansion later to go over the details of the estate sale." She noticed the dark circles under his eyes and quickly added, "Get some rest, Lex. See you later."

Lex walked back to his car, lost in contemplation. He couldn't let this go. His need to protect her and be with her had taken over his every thought, and he wasn't ready to relinquish that feeling when it was still so novel and inspiring. Now that he was alone, he could admit to himself that he was slightly affected by the loss of his father, but Lionel had never truly been a father, not in the real sense of the word. Not the way Gabe had been to Chloe. It was the first time that things were making sense to him, and he couldn't let go of the key to his enlightenment. She held answers and happiness somewhere within her, he was sure, and he would get to them eventually. He had to.


	21. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Clark sat out on the porch of Chloe's old house, uncomfortable with the strange empty feeling it now seemed to emanate. A flustered Lana stood out front in the yard, surrounded by furniture, rugs, and small bric-a-brac as the majority of Smallville buzzed around her excitedly. Nothing like a garage sale to bring in the crowds. He knew Chloe was in the house somewhere, but he couldn't quite bring himself to go inside. Everything had happened so quickly, the changes sneaking in so inconspicuously that he had only blinked before Chloe had somehow been separated from him. He didn't know how to speak to the mourning girl inside the house. She wasn't even Chloe anymore.

Lana escaped the crowd and managed to make her way over to Clark, resting a small hand on his shoulder.

"She's in the kitchen." She whispered into his ear, squeezing his shoulder gently before slipping back into the chaos. How did he ever get so lucky? Smiling with newfound confidence, he stood up and walked into the house.

Sure enough, Chloe was in the kitchen, leaning against the window as she watched Lana handle the masses. He didn't say anything, but she seemed to recognize his presence.

"I really want to help." She said quietly. "I just don't know how. I feel like I keep getting in the way."

He stepped forward to put his arm around her, but she trembled slightly as he reached out so he just let his arm drop to his side. "It's okay, Chlo."

She finally turned to look at him, her face striking him as perhaps one of the saddest things he had ever seen- dull, gray, and utterly hopeless. "You shouldn't trust me as much as you do."

"What do you mean?"

She just shook her head. "I guess it shouldn't matter. Nothing really happened. But...it almost did. It would have. I would have sold you out to save my father. In a heartbeat."

Clark stared at her, betrayal written into every feature as he tried to decipher what she was saying. "And Clark? If I had to do the whole thing over, I think I'd do it again."

His eyes on her made Chloe squirm. "I'm leaving and I'm not coming back to Smallville. So can you please just give me my fucking reprimand, tell me how disappointed you are, how I took advantage of your trust, put you in serious danger? Give me the perfect view from your moral high ground and remind me of what a terrible friend I am."

"Chloe...you said nothing really happened." He looked so innocent and forgiving that Chloe's stomach began to churn. "And you're only going to Metropolis. You know I can make that trip in minutes."

"No Clark." She said forcefully. "I need you to hate me."

"What do you mean?"

"I need you to hate me so I can leave! Don't you understand that as long as you're here, I'll never go anywhere? You trap me into this role that I can't get out of. I'm your friend, your own personal search engine, your practically asexual sidekick. But I can't do that now." She took a breath and continued quietly. "My father's gone and I don't even know who I am anymore. But I do know that I can't pretend to still be whoever it is you thought I was before."

Clark stood still, shocked into silence. He had no idea how straining their friendship had been on Chloe. No concept of her ever wanting more from him, nothing except for that brief, awkward stage of their relationship around the time of the school dance, and that was years ago. "Chloe... I'm sorry. I wish you had told me how you felt. But I couldn't ever hate you."

Chloe stood straight, back to the calm, lifeless energy he had witnessed upon entering the room. Cold and unreachable on so many levels. "I'm still going to leave. And Clark? Lex knows more than you think he does. So just...be careful."

"Lex?" Clark's eyes narrowed angrily as he put the information together. "What did Lex do to you, Chloe?"

"Clark, have you listened to a thing that I've said? Nobody has forced me to do anything I didn't make a conscious decision to do. If you're angry, for God's sake be angry at me. But did you really think all of those cover-up lies were going to slip by him? He's upset that you won't tell him the truth. He wants answers. So either give them to him or be prepared to deal with the consequences." Clark bit his tongue and forced himself to nod in understanding. "I'm going to go try and help Lana out there." Chloe swallowed her almost goodbye and walked away.

Chloe joined Lana in the center of the madness as Clark watched through the window, a mix of emotions and thoughts whirling through him. He was sorry he had hurt Chloe, but he was sure that whatever Lex had done, it was done intentionally and done because of him. Despite Chloe's protests, it was obvious that Lex had damaged her in some way. He had always known Lex wouldn't stop his fanatical research on the caves or on him, no matter how many heartfelt promises he made. Now Lex had gone after Chloe for the answers he couldn't get from his expensive team of scientists. Lex's power over this town had gotten out of hand, and Clark knew then that if it took him his entire life, Lex would pay for his actions.


	22. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Chloe was gone. Lex ran a hand over his scalp and swore loudly. Gone. He had been trailing her for the last year, her move to Metropolis, her choice of residing in a shady apartment complex found through City Housing, a job at a coffee shop on the corner of Varrick and Main. He had driven by a couple of times when in the city, knowing if he entered, he'd be recognized immediately. He never went in. Instead, he passively monitored the new life she had randomly thrown together, marking out patterns and collecting information to make his next move. Lana had received the occasional e-mail, and even had met up with Chloe for lunch a couple of times over the first few months, but then the letters had become few and far between before siphoning off completely. Clark wouldn't talk to him, but according to Lana, he had also been banned from contact with Chloe before she ran off to Metropolis and after a few failed attempts at paying a visit, had temporarily cooled his efforts. But now, the apartment was empty and already back on the market. Her bank accounts were closed and her credit cards canceled. Lex was furious. How on earth could this have happened? He pulled out all of his files on the girl and threw them haphazardly across his desk, reaching for his phone and punching in the number of his private investigator. This was simply unacceptable.

After a harsh, brief exchange with the man whose job it had been to tail Chloe, he hung up and dialed a new number.

"Hello?"

"Clark, don't hang up."

A sharp intake of breath whistled through the phone lines. "What do you want from me, Lex?"

"Chloe's missing." Lex waited for a response, but seeing he was not going to get one, continued coldly. "Put whatever feelings you have for me aside, Clark. Your best friend is missing. She's left her apartment and I can't find any connection to her name anywhere."

"You've been spying on her?"

"And you haven't?" Lex spat, struggling to control his anger. "Listen, I know that whatever you have going on with Chloe, you wouldn't want to see her in danger. I just wanted you to know she's missing. And I think we both know that if anyone is good at playing the hero, it's you."

"Why do you care?" Clark's low voice had a spark of honesty in it that almost made Lex laugh. Almost.

His mind pulled at the faded images of a few memories. Chloe, muddy and wet on the side of the road, arguing violently with him in the mansion, sitting passenger-side in his car wearing those ridiculously oversized sunglasses that fell down her nose. "I know you'll never believe it, but I care about Chloe a great deal."

"You're right." Clark growled. "I won't believe it. All you do is hurt people, Lex. And I won't let you find Chloe so you can do it all over again."

Lex stiffened and clenched his fists. This conversation had gone on for long enough. "Please, Clark, let's not overestimate your power in this situation. I called you so you could find Chloe. Do you think that after you find her you'll be able to keep me from figuring out where she is or if she's okay? I will know every detail as to what happened. The only other alternative is to leave her missing, and personally, I don't think you would do that. Would you?"

Clark squeezed the phone until he heard a snapping sound. Looking down at the plastic shards in his hands, he started to plan out a trip to Metropolis.


	23. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 25

"Lois, we need to talk." Clark rushed into Lois's office- well, cubicle really- at the Daily Planet.

Lois raised an eyebrow in mild annoyance, pushed the keyboard to her computer aside and leaned back in her seat. She'd started working at the Planet a little less than a year ago, and even though it had started just as a way to fill in for Chloe during what Lois had identified as a bout of temporary insanity, now she found she actually kind of liked the work, and didn't particularly like being interrupted. Especially by annoying, momma's boy, Farmer Johns. "Shoot, Smallville."

"Chloe's missing. Lex...Lex has been trailing her for the past year and he lost track. Turns out her apartment and her bank accounts are empty, and I can't find anything to trace back to her."

Lois felt her skin begin to tingle as the blood drained from her face. "My cousin is fine, Clark. She probably just didn't want Lex following her around like some sort of billionaire stalker. She'll show up when she wants to."

"Lois, please. I just have a bad feeling about this. I couldn't find anything on my computer, but you have the Daily Planet resources to work off of. Couldn't you just pull some quick searches?"

Lois suddenly began to feel nervous. "A bad feeling? What are you, psychic?" She consciously set aside the fear building up in her chest and leaned over her desk to start typing frantically. "Of course I'll look her up. She's my cousin."

Sullivan, Chloe

NO RESULTS FOUND.

Sullivan, C.

17 RESULTS FOUND IN METROPOLIS, KA.

Lois scanned over the screen. Nothing of any use. She paused for a moment to think before lowering her hands back to the keyboard. "What else could I search?"

Clark's brow furrowed tightly as he racked his brain. "Nellie Bly. She's practically Chloe's idol."

Bly, Nellie

NO RESULTS FOUND.

"Could she have left Metropolis?" Clark asked, crowding Lois awkwardly as he looked over her shoulder at the computer screen.

"She would have told me." She answered between gritted teeth.

"Lois," Clark continued cautiously. "I think we should consider the possibility that Chloe left the city."

"She would have told me!" She shouted, slamming her fingers down especially hard on the keys as she typed. Chloe couldn't have left town. Despite her as of late rejection of normal society, she had to know Lois cared, know she always had a best friend of sorts holding her seat at the Planet. Lois had certainly told her so in numerous letters sent, and even though she had only gotten a few responses, Chloe wouldn't be so irresponsible as to disappear if it hadn't been absolutely necessary. And she would have known that Lois would help. She had to have known. "She's still in Metropolis, Clark. I know it. It's just going to be a little harder to track her down than back when she was in the safehouse. She's a smart girl. Are you sure you want to expose her to whatever dangers are at hand by doing this?"

Clark nodded decisively. "Yes. I have to know she's okay. I can't protect her if I don't know where she is."

Lois stared intensely at him, before granting him a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Well, someone's got a hero complex. Listen, I'll do what I can. But I can't do everything, Smallville. When are you going to get off your farm-friendly butt and enter the working world? I hear the Daily Planet's hiring." She laughed, grinning wickedly at Clark.

"It might be nice to have the extra crime-fighting resources," he tilted his head, feigning deep consideration. "I'll look into it. Thanks, Lois." Targeting her with that trademark, Boy Scout smile, he left, chuckling to himself at the look of utter horror etched on the woman's face.


	24. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 26

'Time passes and things never change,' Superman thought morosely as he handed over the latest villain of the week to the Metropolis Police Force. Pressing his feet into the ground for momentum, he took off, soaring over the city skyline with his cape trailing behind him. It had been five years since Lex Luthor had requested his assistance in tracing Chloe, five years of fruitless searching. He kept hoping something would come up, but nothing ever did. A flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye would make his heart stop in his chest. He once followed a woman home from the supermarket, flying low behind her minivan, sure that he had finally cracked Chloe's mysterious disappearance...but once she stepped out of the car he saw the woman's eyes were pale blue, a far cry from the sparkling hazel he remembered so clearly from his youth. He had come to understand that even with his powers, he couldn't save everyone...and he struggled to convince himself that he had done the best that he could. He had taken Lois up on her suggestion and found employment at the Daily Planet, fully immersing himself in the life Chloe had always wanted. He had made a vow to protect the world at any cost, and had been taken delightfully by surprise as America welcomed its new alien protector. He had watched Lex turn from bad to worse as his search for Chloe led him to the vicious underbelly of the city; Lex befriended mutants, serial killers, anyone who might have any idea what happened five years ago. The frustration of his own helplessness in the situation had inspired Lex to seek out power in whatever way he could, and although he maintained a fairly solid name within the city, the majority of his business dealings always occurred behind tightly locked doors.

He reveled in the cool breeze, admired the beautiful gold, rotating planet on top of the news office from his spectacular bird's eye view. His throat contracted as the taste of sour metal assaulted his mouth, a sure sign that he was passing over the Luthorcorp building, the steel monstrosity surrounded with a thick coat of gray smog like it had emerged from some mythic fog. Lex had moved permanently to Metropolis shortly after his father's death, and sometimes, it seemed like he did so just to piss off Superman. So many of their encounters involved Lex struggling to out-hero Superman, donating ostentatious amounts of money to the Children's Hospital or his latest investment- building a new transportation line. The silver trains looked like speeding bullets, rushing through their narrow tunnels across the city. Last week, a man had short-circuited the electric current and had taken the travelers hostage. Superman had managed to save every single passenger, but not without causing expensive damage to the train line. Needless to say, Mr. Luthor had hardly been pleased.

Superman hovered quietly by a dimly lit window, watching Lex hunched over his desk, scribbling on papers and filing them away. He looked so old. When had they all gotten so old? Lex straightened his posture stiffly as if he knew instinctively that he was being watched and slowly turned his head to the window. When they faced each other, his eyes shone with such absolute hatred that Superman had to fight the desire to shrink back into the darkness. Lex smacked the flat palm of his hand against the window, directly besides Superman's face. Superman shook his head in disappointment and took to the air. 'No. Things never change.' We all follow pre-designed paths to our destiny. And perhaps, it was Chloe Sullivan's destiny to disappear in the city smoke.


	25. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 27

"Where the fuck are you?" Lex growled into his cell phone, standing tall beside a blown-out lamppost. "If you really wanted the money for your services, you would think you'd make it a priority to be punctual."

A gruff chuckle made Lex fill with such vile anger that he thought he might explode. This man, this pathetic excuse for a human being, was laughing at him. Disrespecting him. Before he could respond to the derision, the man on the phone had begun to speak. "Don't wet yourself, Luthor. I'm just running a little late. Flat tire. It happens."

"Why do you insist we maintain this disgusting underground habit of payment?" Lex wrinkled his nose disdainfully despite his anger. This place was wretched and smelled like a combination of old garbage and the inside of a sewer. The crumbling buildings around him were decorated with elaborate graffiti and the sooner he could get out of this hellhole and back to his immaculate penthouse apartment and his vintage scotch, the better. "I don't tend to handle these sort of matters personally, but you so kindly requested I meet you here myself. So I hope you can understand why I'm slightly annoyed with your tardiness."

"Stop with the million dollar words, Lex, and just make sure you've got the million dollars. And don't forget the files you've got on Superman. I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He laughed again, and it resounded in Lex's skull, echoing mockingly.

"Get your pathetic street scum ass over here or I will make you wish you were never born." He snapped tersely before hanging up the phone and placing it back in his pocket. This was the problem when dealing with low life petty criminals, uneducated slobs who got a rush out of picking up a suitcase full of cash out on an empty street in the middle of the night. Lex clutched the handle of the suitcase tightly by his side and nodded to his driver, who was parked across the street. He gestured for the man to circle the block; if he was being tailed, it wouldn't look good to have such a noticeable car parked for too long in one spot. Watching the sleek black limo drive away, he felt a small tremor of fear. Had he just heard something? He shook it off, it was just paranoia. His driver would be back in a few minutes, he could certainly hold out that long on his own. He was, of course, the only person foolish enough to be out here at this time of night. And yet, his ears strained for outside noises, struggling to hear past the sound of his own breathing. It was too dark to see anything farther than a few feet ahead so Lex held his breath and felt his heartbeat pound in his head.

Footsteps.

Getting louder and faster.

He turned on his heels to run but was grabbed roughly by his silk shirt and pulled backwards. A small, thin figure in bulky black, wearing a matching woolen ski mask was inches away from him, struggling to wrench the suitcase from his grip. The man stepped in even closer, and jerked his knee up to Lex's crotch. Lex fell to his knees with a hiss of pain and the suitcase fell with him. The man swooped down to grab it and disappeared into the darkness with a near graceful quality. Lex groaned as he pulled himself to his feet and reached for the pistol in his inside jacket pocket. He didn't shoot, not yet. He wanted to be close enough for a straight aim and besides, he found himself curious as to what new street urchin had the gall to take on Lex Luthor himself. And with that thought in mind, he took chase.


	26. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 28

The thief moved like a dancer over fences and around sharp corners. Lex followed in pursuit, panting for breath helplessly but refusing to give up. His assailant knew his way around the streets, but so did Lex, and when the figure in front of him made a quick turn into a familiar alleyway, Lex couldn't help but grin.

Sure enough, once he reached the end of the alley, the black-clothed young man—and he must be young to be so small and move so fast—had his back pressed against the bricks, suitcase held tightly to his chest, head frantically twisting and turning in his search for a way out of the dead end. Lex pulled the gun higher to aim for the boy's head, struggling to regain his breath before speaking.

"Nice game, kid, but take off the mask. Playtime is over." The boy didn't move, didn't acknowledge that Lex had said anything at all, just continued to scan the alley with large, partially hidden eyes. Lex closed in with three large strides and held the gun to the boy's throat with one hand while yanking off the mask with the other. Long, pale blonde hair fell down onto his hand and the barrel of the gun. He almost dropped his weapon in shock, but held tight, searching the girl's face. A dark, painful-looking black eye. Hollowed out cheekbones shaped a sharp, angular face. A thin strip of white tape lay horizontally across her obviously broken nose, not quite covering up the greenish purple tint beneath it. He searched her eyes, deep set in shadow and bruises.

"What's your name?" Lex demanded.

The girl eyed him over thoughtfully and relaxed against the wall, stretching her body out in front of him. "What do you want it to be?" She said huskily, in what she surely thought was a sexy voice. 

"Chloe." He answered, without thinking.

She looked at him again, he felt like she was stripping him down to nothing, to the absolute bareness of his soul—or what was left of it—and he shivered under the intensity. After what seemed like a lifetime, she shook her head. "Nope. Sorry. Care to try again?"

Lex hadn't felt so exposed in years. He hadn't allowed himself the luxury, but he didn't remember it feeling so empty. He supposed that perhaps that was why he had stopped leaving himself open to it in the first place. He pressed the gun harder into her neck, hitting her pulse point. "Chloe, stop lying, I know it's you." He felt himself becoming hysterical. She apparently did too, as her eyes widened in what looked like fear.

"I'm not Chloe." She stated clearly and watched as he dropped the gun. She bent down to pick it up and examined it. "I knew you wouldn't shoot. You didn't take off the safety lock."

"Who are you?" He asked her, calm but with an edge of pleading to his voice.

She considered his question, then finally sighed and offered him a small hand to shake. "Mercy."

He grabbed her hand fiercely, needing the warmth that seemed to come off her in waves. "Mercy what?"

She squeezed his hand with surprising strength and stared him down. "Mercy Graves."


	27. Chapter 28

CHAPTER 29

He paced around the entrance to the alley, stopping to glance at her every few seconds before looking down again, lost in a whirlwind of thoughts. "How did you know I would be there with the suitcase?"

She tilted her head to pull her sweatshirt off, revealing a lithe, muscular frame still partially covered by a ratty children's t-shirt. "Cut into your phone lines."

He smirked instinctively. "You always were clever, Chloe."

"Don't call me that." She frowned and her forehead wrinkled; fine lines that he didn't recognize materializing between her eyes, faint and hardly visible but still there. "I listened in on your cell phone conversations, got the time and place of the drop-off, and decided that little Lexy could do without a million or two. Popped your friend's front tire. Came over here. The rest is history. So now if you don't mind, I'll be taking my briefcase and hitting the road." At  
his look of disapproval, she scowled. "Don't make me remind you who has the gun here. Just because I don't flail it around like a lunatic," she looked at him pointedly, "Doesn't mean I won't use it if I need to. So see ya, Lex."

"Stay, Miss Graves." He stumbled over the name awkwardly. "Please. For a moment." She raised an eyebrow and his head began to spin. This was Chloe. How could it not be?

"What do you want, Lex?"

He smiled, growing surer of his gut instinct by the second. "You know, Miss Graves, most people call me Mr. Luthor."

"I'm not most people." She shrugged in annoyance.

He stepped towards her and reached out to brush his hand over the harsh edges of her face, his fingertips dancing delicately over the bruises. "Oh, I know that." He breathed her in, trying desperately to find something familiar there. He couldn't, this girl smelled like cigarette smoke and fire and danger and death. It made goose bumps come out on his arms, but the fact that her eyes fluttered closed reassured him, building his confidence. "I've always known that."

Her eyes shot open and she pushed him away. "Why do you keep saying that?" She asked, her voice hard and stone cold. "I've never met you before in my life. I mean, I've heard of you, who hasn't, but I don't know any Chloes and I'm not her, whoever she is."

He growled in frustration. "Why are you doing this?" He shouted furiously.

She met his frustration head on with another chilly glare, somehow seeming a taller, more imposing force. As if he was the one out of place. Lex felt weary and weakened and he didn't like it one bit. He had to get back to his car, his driver must be nearing full panic mode by now. As much as he had wanted to believe this hoodlum of sorts was Chloe, he was forced to accept that maybe his need to find her had blinded him to the differences between the two women. Chloe was all soft curves and vulnerability, strength and fortitude. This young woman in front of him was angles, grit, and smoke. She was beautiful, even behind the bruises, but he couldn't go on acting like an idiot for some street child. But even so…the resemblance was striking. And there was that strange sense of familiarity that had always been his weakest spot with her, his unexplainable need to tell her his darkest secrets. But now…now there were so many more to tell. He sank to the dirty sidewalk and sat with his face in his hands, feeling demeaned and humiliated. And angry. And hurt. "Open the suitcase."

She eyed him warily and flipped the silver buckles open. A loud gasp sounded from her chest as she grabbed the contents of the suitcase in her hand. "Where's the money, Lex! There's nothing in here but a bunch of papers!"

"I wasn't going to give him the money. Those papers are worth more than money." He glanced blankly up at the girl, who was now red-faced with fury. "That suitcase holds the future. I'm going to kill Superman."

Her mouth hung open slightly and she seemed so like Chloe then, wide-eyed, skeptical, angry, and scared, with so many emotions playing on her face that Lex could hardly distinguish one from the other. But it only lasted a moment before her mouth snapped shut and she nodded curtly. All feeling washed away, her face revealed absolutely nothing. "You do what you need to do." He watched her slip the papers back into the suitcase and close it tightly.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small business card and handed it to her. "You should come by sometime, Miss Graves. I can assure you my apartment is nicer than a street corner."

"How do you know I wouldn't just rob you blind?" She asked him  
genuinely.

He stood up and brushed himself off. "Oh, I'll have you searched before you come in and when you leave." He felt a strange but welcome lift in his chest when he saw the wry smile she was sporting. "You're always welcome with me."

She snorted. "Lex, has anyone ever told you that you're absolutely  
insane?"

"It's been considered a possibility." He looked to her with the utmost sincerity and felt sure that he saw some empathy there within the depths of her eyes.

She turned to walk away, throwing the gun on the ground behind her and  
waving the business card in the air. "See you around, Lex."

He watched as she faded back into darkness. "Definitely." He murmured softly. As long as he had even the slightest reason to suspect that Mercy Graves was in fact Chloe Sullivan, she wouldn't be out of his sight for long. He could be patient and figure her out. She would slip, eventually. He reached for his suitcase and, just for good measure, flicked it open.

"That little bitch!" He laughed. Oh well. He kind of figured. She wasn't stupid enough to think he didn't have more copies. Like he hadn't been planning this for years, preparing for it since the day he was born. This was some sort of game. Considering that Chloe had despised such manipulations, it seemed only fair that Mercy would make him pay with one...well, she was sadly mistaken. This was one game that Lex planned on winning by a landslide.


	28. Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

Lex woke to the sound of knocking. He groaned as he pulled himself up off the couch. He had fallen asleep fully dressed in his office again, soon after total exhaustion had driven him to the sofa just to 'rest for a second'. "Come in." He called, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"You have a guest, Mr. Luthor."

"It's the middle of the night, I'm not accepting visitors at the moment. Please tell my 'guest' that-"

The well-dressed man stood awkwardly in his office, shuffling his foot nervously against the plush carpet as Lex spoke. "Sir, this young woman is very perseverant, I'm not sure how to-"

Mercy burst into the room with a small assortment of maids and housekeepers following at a safe distance, watching in astonishment as she dropped a dirty duffel bag on the floor. "Hey Lex. How's it hanging?"

Lex jumped to his feet and felt the blood rush to his head dizzily. He blinked a few times at the vision before him and carefully arranged a friendly smile on his face. His new guest would be welcomed properly. "Miss Graves, what a delight to see you." He extended his hand to her.

She stared at it for a moment, then raised her line of vision to stare at his face with a strange expression. "Stop trying to smile, you look like a demented shark or something." She walked past him and his extended hand, to snoop blatantly around his desk. "Nice office."

"I try." He drawled blandly, turning his attention to the small group of his employed help hovering in the doorway. "I think I can handle this from here. I'm sorry for the trouble my guest might have caused. Please go about your business." He nodded in apology and closed the door. "Now, Miss Graves, do you mind telling me why, two weeks after you try to steal my briefcase, you come to my penthouse in the middle of the night?"

"You invited me" she explained as if to a child. "So I came. Geez, you really weren't kidding about this place. It's amazing."

"Thank you, Miss Graves."

She looked up from her snooping and smiled lightly at Lex. "Please, call me Mercy."

"Mercy," he locked in contact with the pair of green sparked eyes that had haunted him for years and hid a stumble by sitting himself down on the couch. "Care to have a seat?" She walked over and sat down next to him, hands on her knees as if she was waiting for something. "You have a very interesting name." He examined her face and thought he might have caught her wince slightly. "Fitting I think." He slid across the couch, closer to her, and could feel the energy in the room heighten dramatically. It was as if the air had literally thickened around them. "After all, everyone needs mercy sometimes." She looked at him with that damn eyebrow raised and he had to hold himself back from just kissing her senseless. It would be worth it once he figured her out for good. Once he got Chloe to admit that she had been hiding out as some sort of street urchin. He would do whatever it took to get her to explain why she had felt it necessary to hide in the first place. "I've spent some time thinking about you in these past two weeks. Remembering things. Or rather, remembering a girl I used to know. She thought death followed her. Followed us. But she was always quick to forgive me. Until…until she couldn't anymore. You remind me of her. But you're not her. Are you?" He leaned in and stopped inches away from her mouth. If she wanted to kiss him, he would force her to meet him there and make that last move in.

Her breathing was labored and tight in her chest. He was close, too close. Fighting to open her eyes, she saw Lex watching her expectantly, reading every struggle on her face. "This isn't payment for your hospitality. I'm not your whore." She made each word as harsh as she could, wanting to cut into his cocky veneer and draw blood. She didn't move though, she couldn't bring herself to separate any further from him.

"I never said you were." He conceded reasonably.

"Just covering the bases." She grinned and closed in on him, pressing her lips roughly to his own.

He grabbed a fistful of blonde hair and rubbed it between his fingers as her mouth moved against his. She tightened her grip around his shoulders as if holding him in place. He reluctantly pried his mouth away from hers and held back a chuckle as she gasped for breath. He lifted her face with his hand and softly kissed the faded purple around her eye and the faint green splotch on the bridge of her nose. Brushed his lips over each corner of her mouth and tongued the sharp protruding cheekbones. Kissed down her neck to the center of her throat so he could feel the vibrations of her soft moaning. "Mine," he whispered softly against the warmth of her neck. "I told you I would find you, Chloe."

He felt her throat tense and tremble as she spoke in that deep, gravelly voice he hated and loved because it resonated down through his spine. "Mercy."

"Chloe." He nipped at her neck and moved to whisper it in her ear.

"Mercy." She repeated before grazing his earlobe with her teeth and tugging it down lightly.

"Chloe." He insisted, a little firmer, squeezing his hands around her waist so hard he could feel her body struggle to expand for breath.

"Mercy." She bit his ear harder as she hissed the name.

He growled angrily and pushed her back into the couch before kissing her fiercely. She reciprocated, wrapping denim-clad legs around his waist as the two of them sank into the cushions.

"I have a bed," he gasped.

She pulled away and smiled lopsidedly at him. "Lucky you." She stood on her feet and gestured dramatically for him to take the lead. Lex grabbed her hand tightly in his and led her out of the office.


	29. Chapter 30

A.N.: You guys need to look up Mercy Graves on if you want to understand this story. She's part of the whole Superman world, and you all should learn about her anyway, because she's very interesting. Hopefully it will make the story more enjoyable for everyone. Thanks for the comments, keep it up! XOXO

CHAPTER 30

Clark ran a hand through his dark hair and wearily removed his glasses as he closed the door to his tiny, walk-up Metropolis apartment and collapsed on his bed. The Daily Planet, plus his side job of saving the world on occasion, could be excruciatingly tiring. Working with Lois was more of a hassle than ever, but he found he missed the bantering and her caustic wit every night, to the point where he couldn't wait to get to work in the morning just to be called "Smallville" again, or her new favorite nickname for him, "Poindexter", based on the unfortunate, thick, black frames he now sported at work. He kicked off his shoes against the foot of his bed and closed his eyes, feeling exhaustion take over. Halfway between sleep and consciousness, a sharp rapping noise sounded against his front door. Clark dragged himself out of bed, not bothering to deal with his rumbled suit, and padded through the hall back to the front door.

"Hello?" He opened the door and looked around the empty hallway. A quick x-ray scan of the premises showed nothing out of the ordinary. He sped down the stairs at light speed and stood outside. A couple of rowdy teenagers hanging out by the bus stop, an apparently intoxicated gentleman stumbling down the street in high spirits... nothing out of the ordinary. As he was about to turn around, he caught the eye of a girl leaning against a wall across the street. The image stood out in his brain as he faced the door to his building: the blonde hair, the ripped jeans, and the way she had been staring right at him. After a second of hesitation, he turned back around to face her, but she was gone.

He really needed to get more sleep. Clark shrugged off the image and climbed back up the five flights of stairs to his apartment, which lucky for him wasn't as difficult as it was for the other people living on his floor. By his door was a manila envelope, how could he have missed it before? He picked it up and examined it as he re-entered his apartment, flipping the locks shut one after the other out of habit.

CLARK KENT-

He ripped the envelope open and a thick packet dropped heavily to the floor, followed by a small scrap of paper. He picked up the paper and read the scribbled handwriting.

Thought this might be useful to you. Stay safe.

-A Friend

Very strange. Slightly disturbed, Clark kneeled down on the floor and reached for the packet of paper.

Lex had known instinctively when Mercy had gotten out of his bed around three in the morning, redressing herself quietly and leaving the room. He had heard her ease the door closed and tiptoe stealthily down the hall and right out the front door. He had lain in bed awake, unable to fall back asleep, his thoughts plagued by business deals, tax evasion, and more personal questions that, to his dismay, still remained unanswered. He was awake then when, to his surprise, he heard the door reopen and the familiar light footsteps head back toward his room. Lex quickly shut his eyes and rolled over, slowing his breathing in a deliberate approximation of sleep as she carefully removed her jeans, jacket, and t-shirt, placed them in specific locations on the floor and crawled softly back into bed. She paused a minute, hovering over his body in her underwear, as if to check his breathing, but deciding that it was steady in sleep, she slid between the covers and rolled over onto her side to face Lex's back. Keeping his breathing paced properly became more difficult as she reached a hand tentatively up and rest it on his back, spreading her fingers wide directly between his shoulder blades. The heat transferred from her skin to his own was almost painful, but he forced himself calm under her touch until, strangely enough, he managed to fall asleep.


	30. Chapter 31

"There are plenty of reasons why people disappear." Mercy thought as Lex turned over and wrapped an arm around her in his sleep. Small reasons, like moving away, losing contact with old friends, or maybe bigger reasons like going bankrupt or having your life threatened. Maybe, for some people, it was just the thrill of escape. To Mercy, it seemed like it always came down to loss. A loss of freedom, a loss of money, a loss of love... you vanish because there simply isn't enough of you left to continue existing. Thousands of people, maybe millions, hide directly under the radar. People you see walking by on the street, nameless and faceless and absolutely ordinary. Until they're gone. Yes, disappearing is a very easy task. A basic art of sacrifice.

Mercy vaguely wanted to disappear right then, the stifling pressure of Lex's body holding her down too tight. She knew why she had purposefully run into him that night on the street, and despite her capture and consequent unveiling in that alley, she had successfully accomplished her goal, in her opinion. But she was absolutely puzzled as to why she found herself all packed and ready to play house at the Luthor luxury penthouse apartment. She couldn't help the annoying feeling that they were bonded together in some morbid, extraordinary way. Forced by circumstances to lie, cheat and kill together for the rest of all eternity. Like they had branded each other with their own failures. "Sentimentality," she thought disgustedly, "is what it is." She never could resist that last touch of irony. Sleeping with Lex Luthor the same night she betrayed him to Superman.

She didn't have any reason to help out Metropolis's favorite superhero. Didn't really care that much about him one way or the other. To her, this was just tying up loose ends, more about karma and balance than any desire to become some spandex-clad, do-gooder's personal assistant. Clark deserved that envelope. Just like Lex deserved to have all of his plans fall through, waiting patiently for Superman to arrive, surrounded by his trap of precious meteor rocks, until he rotted away into nothing. 

He kept calling her Chloe. Talk about sentimental. Chloe Sullivan was dead.

He should know, he was right there when she died.

Lying on the floor of her father's empty hospital room, shaking and shuddering in his arms.


End file.
